FROM   THE   LIBRARY  OF 
REV.   LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON,   D.  D. 

BEQUEATHED    BY   HIM   TO 

THE   LIBRARY   OF 

PRINCETON   THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


^  OCT  26  1937 
X&OGICALSt^S*' 


MORMON"  DOCTRINE, 


PLAIN    AND   SIMPLE, 


OR 


Leaves  from  the  Tree  of   Life, 


By  CHAS.  W.   PENROSE. 


PUBLISHED    BY 

THE    JUVENILE     INSTRUCTOR     OFFICE, 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 

1888. 


INTRODUCTION. 


rpHERE  is  no  subject  of  popular  comment  on  which  there 
is  so  little  general  information  as  that  called  "Mornion- 
i>in."  This  little  work  is  designed  to  explain,  in  a  simple 
way,  leading  features  of  "Mormon"  doctrine.  The  terms 
"  Mormon"  and  "Mormonism"  are  not  strictly  correct  as 
usually  applied.  They  are  inappropriately  derived  from  the 
Book  of  Mormon,  which  is  a  work  containing  the  history  of 
the  former  inhabitants  of  the  American  continent,  written  at 
different  times  by  various  persons  and  finally  compiled  by  a 
prophet  named  Mormon  and  inscribed  upon  metallic  plates, 
which  were  hidden  in  the  earth  to  come  forth  in  the  latter 
days,  for  the  enlightenment  of  mankind  in  relation  to  the 
origin  of  the  Indian  tribes  of  this  land,  and  as  a  testimony 
that  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  who  was  crucified  by  the  Jews,  is 
indeed  the  Messiah,  the  Son  of  the  living  God. 

This  record,  giving  an  account  of  the  dealings  of  the  Almighty 
with  the  people  it  describes,  and  whose  origin  and  travels, 
wars  and  industries,  customs  and  religion,  progress  and  decay  it 
graphically  relates,  was  taken  from  its  hiding  place  by  Joseph 
Smith  in  obedience  to  the  revelation  and  commandment  of 
(iodand  was  translated  into  the  Euglish  language  through 
a  heavenly  gift  bestowed  upon  that  favored  man.  Those 
who  believe  in  the  divinity  of  the  book  are  commonly  called 
"  Mormons,"  and  the  doctrines  which  they  hold  are  known  as 
"  Mormonism,  "  But  it  is  as  inconsistent  to  call  people 
"'  Mormons,"  who  believe  in  the  writings  of  Mormon,  as  it 
would  be  to  call  them  Isaiahs,  or  Jeremiahs,   or  Peters  or 


IV.  INTRODUCTION. 

Pauls,  because  they  believe  in  the  scriptures  written  by  those 
inspired  men. 

The  Church  which  has  been  organized  under  direction  from 
the  same  heavenly  Power  that  revealed  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon, is  entitled  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day 
Saints.  Its  members,  then,  should  not  be  called  "Mormons," 
but  Latter-day  Saints.  The  members  of  the  church  established 
by  Jesus  and  His  apostles,  as  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  the 
New  Testament,  were  called  Saints.  The  term  "  Christians" 
was  applied  to  them  in  derision,  and  was  first  used  at  Antioch. 
The  members  of  the  restored  Church  of  Christ  are  called 
Latter-day  Saints  to  distinguish  them  from  their  brethren 
and  sisters  of  former  times.  But  as  "  Christians"  came  to  be 
the  common  appellation  of  the  former-day  saints,  so  "Mor- 
mons" has  come  to  be  the  title  generally  bestowed  upon  the 
Latter-day  Saints,  and  is  used  herein  only  in  that  sense. 

In  the  twelve  leaves  which  are  plucked  from  the  tree  ot 
life  and  herewith  sent  forth  for  the  healing  of  the  nations 
from  the  effects  of  error  and  false  doctrine,  will  be  found  a 
sweet  and  sovereign  balm  for  spiritual  disorders.  And  by 
receiving  them,  a  desire  will  be  created  for  further  gatherings 
of  the  same  foliage.  They  will  serve  to  open  the  eyes  of 
those  who  have  been  in  spiritual  darkness  and  are  yet  anxious 
for  the  light,  and  as  a  preparation  for  the  attainment  of  that 
vital  power  which  makes  all  things  new,  and  quickens  and 
animates  earthly  beings  with  celestial  life  and  light. 

We  ask  for  the  principles  here  presented,  the  careful  con- 
sideration of  thoughtful  minds,  and  confidently  invite  com- 
parison with  those  utterances  of  the  Jewish  prophets  and 
apostles  which  are  contained  in  the  Bible.  References  to 
those  scriptures  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  this  work, 
arranged  to  correspond  with  each  chapter  or  "leaf." 

The  young  people  among  the  Latter-day  Saiuts  will  obtain, 


[NTRODl  CTION.  v. 

by  a  perusal  of  this  little  book,  an  understanding  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  the  system  which  has  cost  the 
blood  of  martyred  Prophets  and  Apostles  to  establish.  And 
it  will  be  found  useful  in  the  missionary  field,  as  a  sower  of 

those  - 1-  of  truth  which,  it'  widely  scattered,  will  surely  fall 

upon  sonic  good  ground  and  bring  forth  fruit  for  the  service  of 
the  Master. 

We  invoke  upon  this  little  work  the  Spirit  of  the  most  high 
God.  to  whose  cause  it  is  dedicated,  that  wherever  it  may 
go  light  may  spring  forth  to  the  joy  of  those  who  desire  the 
truth,  and  that  by  its  means  many  people  may  be  directed 
into  the  way  which  leads  to  the  tree  of  life,  enjoy  its  luscious 
fruit  and  gain  the  gift  of  endless  lives  wherein  redeemed  man 
is  exalted  and  the  eternal  God  is  glorified. 

C.  W.  P. 


CONTENTS. 


FIRST  LEAF. 

Page. 

Value  of  Truth — Only  One  True  Religion— Faith  the  First  Prin- 
ciple— Faith  a  Principle  of  Power — How  Faith'  Comes — No 
Man  can  Find  out  God — Diety  must  Manifest  Himself — God 
the  Father  of  the  Race — Personality  of  God — The  Great  Law- 
giver Governs  Himself  by  Law 9 

SECOND    LEAF. 

True  Repentance  the  Consequence  of  Faith — Original  Sin  and 
Actual  Sin — The  Work  of  Redemption — Universal  Redemp- 
tion from  Original  Sin — Conditions  of  Salvation  from  Actual 
Sin — Baptism,  its  Object,  Mode  and  Effect — A  New  Creature 
in   Christ   Jesus 13 

THIRD   LEAF. 

The  Holy  Ghost,  its  Nature,  Office  and  Power — Conferred  through 
the  Laying  On  of  Hands — Gifts  and  Fruits  of  the  Holy 
S|3irit — How  Obtained — Their  Object  and  Design — Effects  of 
its  Withdrawal— Infinite  Riches  of  its  Full  Inspiration.  .    .      16 

FOURTH    LEAF. 

Divine  Authority — Without  it  all  Gospel  Administrations  Vain 
— It  Cannot  be  Acquired — The  Priesthood,  its  Antiquity, 
Power  and  Blessings — The  Priesthood  of  Melchisedek — The 
Aaronic  Priesthood  —  Priestcraft — The  Authority  of  God 
must  Come  from  God — Ordination — Value  of  the  Priesthood.     19 

FIFTH    LEAF. 

The  Church  of  Christ — Its  Unity — Christ's  Church  under  His 
Personal  Supervision — Rules  of  Admission — No  Others  Avail- 
able— Apostleship  the  Chief  Authority — Other  Authorities 
and  Ministers — Necessity  of  These — The  Church  Progressive 
— It  Casts  Off  Evil-Doers — Brotherhood  of  its  Members — 
Mission  of  the  Church 23 


CONTENTS.  vn. 

sixth    LEAF. 

:n  thf  Primitive  Church— When  it  Commenced — 
The  Apostles  Predicted  it — The  Apostasy  Universal— The 
Woman  Clothed  With  the  Sun,  and  the  Scarlet-Clothed  Har- 
lot -What  they  Represent  —The  Reformation — Spread  of 
Truth  but  Lack  of  Authority— Multiplication  of  Sects — No 
Yoitv  from  Heaven 20 

SEVENTH    LEAF. 

ition  of  the   Gospel— Ministration  of  an    Angel — Divine 
Knowledge  and  Divine  Authority — Keys  of  Former  Dispon- 
es Revealed— Rebuilding  of  the  Church  of  Christ — The 
is   Following — Comiug  d*    Elijah — Dispensation   of   the 
Fullness  of  Times— Triumph  of  the  Truth 

EIGHTH   LEAF. 

Apparent    Doom  of  the  Majority  of  Mankind — No  Salvation  but 

by  Jesus  Christ— Is  the  State  of  Man  Fixed  at  Death?— The 

imon    Belief  Incorrect  —  Preaching   to    the   Dead — The 

Spirit  Without  the  Body  Sentient— Nature  of  Paradise— All 

People  to  Hear  the  Gospel  Either  in  this  Life  or  the  Next.     •"■! 

NINTH    LEAF. 

Decrees  of  God  Fixed  in  the  Spiritual  as  in  the  Natural  Onh 
— Ordinances  Essential — The  Living  may  lie  Baptized  for 
the  Dead  — The  Principle  of  Proxy— The  Place  for  the 
Administration  of  Vicarious  ordinances — Revelation  of 
Elijah,  the  Prophet — Connection  With  the  Spirit  World — 
True  Order  of  Communication— Blessed  Results  of  Work 
Done  for  the  Dead 37 

TENTH  LEAF. 
Universality  of  Death— Results  of  the  Transgression  ol'  Law- 
Dissolution  of  the  Body  not  the  End  of  Bxisteno — What  is 
Resurrection? —  The  spiritual  Body  of  Jesue  —  All  to  be 
Raised  from  the  Dead  —  The  Order  of  the  Resurrection — 
a  Immortal  Body — Ignorance  of  the  Lawsof 
Nature  —  Matter    Indestructible — Possibilities  of  Creal 

Life  and  Immortality  Brought   to  Light 42 

ELEVENTH    LEAF. 
Man  or  Woman  Alone  Imperfect — Marriage  Ordained  of  God — 
actity  of  Proper  Sexual    Relatione     Matrimony  a  Part  of 


Vlll.  CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Eeligion — The  First  Pair  Immortal — Marriage  for  Eternity 
—  Keys  of  Celestial  Marriage  —  Condition  of  Those  who 
Marry  Only  for  Time — Man  the  Head  of  the  Woman — Plu- 
rality of  Wives — Continuation  of  the  Righteous  Forever- 
Eternal  Family  Organizations  —  Everlasting  Increase  and 
Dominion •••...      48 

TWELFTH   LEAF. 

Christ's  Work  Continued  After  His  Death — The  Perfect  Science 
of  Human  Redemption — What  was  Lost  in  the  Fall — What 
is  to  be  Regained  in  the  Restoration— Justice  Tempered  with 
Mercy — Loss  Sustained  by  the  Disobedient — Doom  of  the 
Sons  of  Perdition— The  Celestial,  Terrestrial  and  Telestial 
Glories — Redemption  and  Glorification  of  the  Earth — Salva- 
tion of  the  Whole  Race— The  Finished  Work  of  Christ— Uni- 
versal Dominion  of  the  Father 53 

"THE  LATTER-DAY  KINGDOM/'  a  Poem 59 

APPENDIX.     Scriptural  References  to  all  the  subjects  treated 

upon  in  the  body  of  the  work 64 


MORMON"     DOCTRINE, 


LEAVES     FROM     THE      TREK     OF     LIFE. 


FIRST   LEAF. 

Value  of  Truth— Only  One  True  Religion — Faith  the  First  Principle 

— Faith  a  Principle  of  Tower — How  Faith  Comes — Xo  Man  Can 
Find  out  God — Deity  Must  Manifest  Himself — God  the  Father  of 
the  Race — Personality  of  God— The  Great  Lawgiver  Governs 
Himself  by  Law. 

'PHERE  is  nothing  more  valuable  than  truth.  Religious 
*  truth,  or  that  which  relates  to  God,  our  duty  to  Him, 
His  laws  and  purposes,  and  the  means  by  which  we  may  now 
come  to  Him  and  eventually  be  exalted  in  His  presence,  is 
really  priceless.  To  obtain  a  knowledge  of  religious  truth, 
both  young  and  old  should  be  willing  to  make  every  exertion 
and  to  offer  any  sacrifice. 

There  are  many  systems  of  religion  in  the  world,  but  only 
one  can  be  correct,  for  the  simple  reason  that  there  is  but  one 
God  for  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  to  worship  and  obey. 
If  there  were  many  true  Gods  to  whom  mankind  owed  rever- 
ence there  might  be  several  true  religions.  God  is  the  author 
or  revealer  of  true  religion.  Men  may  invent  and  arrange 
methods  of  worship,  imagine  and  think  out  doctrines,  and 
formulate  and  enforce  creeds;  but  they  are  of  no  valm 


10  "mormon"   doctrine. 

a  means  of  salvation.  God  must  be  approached  and  served  in 
the  way  which  He  ordains,  or  the  worship  and  service  will  not 
be  accepted. 

The  first  principle  of  true  religion  is  faith.  This  is  the 
beginning  of  righteousness.  It  is  the  very  root  of  the  tree  of 
life,  and  its  sap  runs  through  all  the  branches.  "Without 
faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God."  And  "Whosoever 
cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  He  is."  Faith,  in  its 
simplest  sense,  is  the  assent  of  the  mind,  and  its  assurance  of 
the  existence  of  things  unseen  by  the  natural  eye.  This  is 
belief.  In  another  sense,  faith  is  a  motive  power,  a  principle 
of  action.  Examination  into  the  secret  springs  that  prompt  us 
in  the  common  affairs  of  life  will  show  that  faith  moves  us 
to  exertion  and  incites  us  to  perseverance.  It  is  the  assurance 
we  feel  of  the  existence  or  attainment  of  things  unperceived 
by  the  senses,  which  urges  us  onward  and  inspires  us  with 
energy.  In  a  higher  sense,  faith  is  a  spiritual  force.  It 
reaches  up  to  the  heavenly  spheres.  It  lays  hold  upon  eternal 
things.  It  acts  upon  the  grosser  elements,  and  moves 
spiritual  essences  and  immortal  intelligences. 

It  is  in  its  fullness  all  powerful.  By  its  exercise  God  made 
the  worlds,  bringing  order  out  of  chaos,  light  out  of  darkness 
and  visible  things  out  of  the  invisible,  all  moved  by  that 
spiritual  energy  called  faith.  By  its  power  Christ  stilled  the 
winds  and  walked  upon  the  waves,  healed  the  sick  and  raised 
the  dead.  Elijah,  by  faith  closed  the  heavens,  that  they 
rained  not,  and  overcame  the  might  of  death,  passing  with 
his  body  into  the  mansions  on  high.  By  faith,  Job  beheld 
the  coming  of  the  Redeemer,  and  Paul  ascended  to  the  third 
heaven.  And  by  faith  men  and  women  can  overcome  the 
influences  of  earth  and  time,  and  rise  to  communion  with 
angelic  beings,  and  even  with  God,  the  highest  and  holiest  of  all. 

Man  must  have  faith  in  God  in  order  to  become  exalted  into 
His  presence.  No  man  knows  of  himself  how  to  reach  that 
position,  nor  how  to  obtain  salvation  from  sin  and  its  effects, 
among  which  are  sorrow  and  pain,  and  death  as  the  ultimate. 
To  learn  anything  in  relation  to  these  important  matters  he 
mast  be  tanghtof  God,  and  faith  is  therefore  absolutely  neces- 
sary in  the  outset  of  any  attempt  to  learn  of  Him. 


NO   man   can    FIND  01  r  OOD,  11 

This  faith  ''comes  by  hearing,"  or  in  other  words  is  devel- 
oped by  testimony.  Through  the  testimony  of  men  divinely 
appointed  to  speak  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  faith  is  awakened 

in  the  human  heart.  It  is  a  principle  existing  in  every  soul, 
but  in  the  condition  of  fallen  humanity  is  measurably  dormant, 
until  quickened  by  a  divine  influence.  The  word  spoken  by 
inspired  men,  accompanied  by  the  influence  of  the  spirit  of 
truth,  arouses  faith  in  the  soul  of  man,  and  by  its  force  he  is 
led  to  call  upon  the  Lord,  and  by  its  light  to  see  his  way  to 
repentance  and  obedience. 

No  man  by  his  own  researches  can  find  out  God.  He  may. 
by  reason  and  reflection,  by  observing  and  pondering  upon  the 
wonders  of  creation,  by  studying  his  own  internal  and  external 
nature,  come  to  the  sure  conclusion  that  there  is  a  God,  and 
to  a  very  small  extent  make  an  estimate  of  His  character. 
But  without  the  Almighty  manifests  Himself  in  some  manner, 
finite  man  can  never  obtain  a  knowledge  of  infinite  Deity.  The 
speculations  of  human  beings  concerning  God  are  many  and 
various,  and  a  va>t  number  of  their  conclusions  inconsistent  and 
vain.  Human  learning,  no  matter  how  extensive,  and  human 
research,  no  matter  how  profound,  are  of  necessity  inadequate 
alone  to  the  acquisition  of  a  knowledge  of  divine  things. 
Hence  an  unlettered  person  enlightened  direct  from  God,  will 
know  more  of  Deity  than  the  most  erudite  collegian  who  has 
not  received  this  divine  illumination. 

Some  conception  of  God  is  necessary  to  proper  faith  in 
Him.  On  this  account  He  has,  at  different  periods  of  the 
world's  history,  manifested  Himself  to  chosen  persons,  win  tin 
He  has  deputed  to  bear  witness  of  His  existence  and  attributes 
to  others,  and  declare  His  will  and  commandments.  The  his- 
tory of  some  of  these  manifestations  and  revelations  given  in 
olden  times  is  recorded  in  the  Bible.  Those  that  have  been 
vouchsafed  to  man  in  the  latter  times  are  embodied  in  what 
is  popularly  known  as  "Mormonism,"  but  which  should  be 
called  the  Everlasting  Gospel,  renewed  on  earth. 

By  these  we  learn  that  God  is  the  Father  of  the  human 
rare  As  every  seed  in  nature  bears  its  own  kind,  it  is  reason- 
able to  conclude  that  man  bears  some  semblance  to  the  Being 
from  whom  he  sprang.     And  this   idea  is  confirmed  by  the 


12  MORMON        DOCTRIiNE. 

divine  declaration  that  "God  made  man  in  His  own  image." 
Our  Father  in  Heaven,  is  then,  a  personal  Being.  He  is  a  Spirit. 
But  He  is  also  enclothed  in  a  tabernacle.  In  other  words. 
He  is  an  immortal  Spirit  dwelling  in  an  immortal  tabernacle 
Every  faculty  and  power  to  be  found  in  mortal  man  exists  in 
the  fullness  of  its  perfection  in  the  person  of  Deity.  Those 
glorious  qualities  which  make  so  wide  a  distinction  between 
man  and  the  lower  animals  are  undeveloped  photographs,  or 
rather,  embryotic  duplicates  of  the  perfected  attributes  of  the 
Eternal  Father. 

Being  an  individual,  God,  in  His  personality,  cannot  be 
omnipresent.  But  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  proceeds  from 
His  presence  and  permeates  all  things  throughout  the 
immensity  of  space,  He  can  see,  and  know,  and  influence  all 
things.  Yet  the  Being  who  has  power  over  all  His  creations 
proceeds  by  law,  and  while  giving  laws  to  all  His  creations  is 
Himself  governed  by  law  and  never  violates  the  eternal 
principles  of  truth,  justice  and  mercy.  The  "laws  of  nature" 
are  the  laws  of  God,  and  He  is  consistent  with  them  and  those 
higher  laws  which  pertain  to  the  spiritual  spheres. 

The  Fatherhood  of  God  is  a  glorious  truth  that  must  at  some 
time  be  impressed  upon  every  one  of  our  race.  It  involves 
the  brotherhood  of  man.  It  is  full  of  ennobling  and  elevating 
suggestions,  and  prompts  those  who  are  impressed  with  its 
majesty  to  deeds  worthy  of  so  exalted  an  origin ;  leads  to 
humility  and  obedience,  and  influences  all  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  the  Eternal  Father  to  mutual  help,  forbearance, 
charity  and  affection,  as  brothers  and  sisters  of  a  family, 
whose  destiny  is  connected  with  the  glory,  and  dominion,  and 
matchless  power  of  the  Almighty  framer  and  governor  of  the 
universe. 


ORIGINAL   SIN     \M>   A<  CT    \l.   BIN.  13 


SECOND  LEAF. 

True  Repentance  the  Consequence  of  Faith — Original  Sin  and  Actual 
The   Work   of    Redemption — Universal    Redemption    from 
Original  sin — Conditions  of  Salvation  from  Actual  sin — Baptism, 
.    Mode  and  Effect— A    New  Creature  in  <v 

FAITH  in  God  once  quickened  in  the  human  heart,  con- 
Bcienoe  is  awakened  and  the  mind  is  self-convicted  of  sin. 
Repentance  follows  as  the  consequence.  This  includes  sorrow 
for  the  past  and  determination  for  the  future.  This  first  of 
these  without  the  second  is  not  genuine  repentance.  It  is 
barren  and  fruitless,  and  is  therefore  unacceptable  to  God. 
Res  lutions  of  future  rectitude  are  naturally  accompanied  by 
grief  for  past  wrong-doing,  but  regret  may  exist  without 
reform,  and  such  is  not  saving  repentance,  the  virtue  of  which 
is  in  turning  from  evil  and  cleaving  to  good.  Tears,  self- 
reproaches,  lamentations,  self-abasement  in  language  or  in 
ire  do  not  constitute  repentance,  no  matter  how  loudly 
they  may  be  indulged  in  or  how  conspicuous  they  may  appear, 
but  it  is  evidenced  by  forsaking  things  one  knows  to  be  wrong 
and  practising  that  which  one  is  satisfied  is  right.  Humility 
is  one  of  its  chief  characteristics  and  this  prompts  obedience. 
A>  repentance  follows  faith,  so  baptism  succeeds  repentance. 
For  the  wish  to  work  righteousness  in  future  implies  a  desire 
for  forgiveness  of  past  guilt,  and  baptism  is  ordained  for  the 
remission  of  sins.  This  opens  the  broad  questions  of  sin  and 
redemption  and  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement. 

There  are  two  general  divisions  of  sin,  viz.,  original  and 
actual.  Original  >in  is  that  which  was  committed  by  the 
parents  of  the  race,  the  consequences  of  which  pass  upon  all 
of  their  posterity.  Actual  sin  is  that  committed  by  each 
individual  and  for  which  he  jfl  personally  responsible.  Adam 
and  Eve  broke  the  divine  law  given  to  them  in  the  garden, 
the  penalty  for  which  was  death,  natural  and  spiritual;  the 
fiist  being  tlie  separation  of  the  spirit  ami  the  body,  and  the 
second,  banishment   from   the  presence  of  God.     The  taint 


14  "mormon"   doctrine. 

descended  to  their  offspring.  Death  is  the  common  lot,  and  a 
vail  is  drawn  between  man  and  his  Maker.  Thus  mankind 
are  prone  to  do  evil,  and  the  consequence  is  that  "all  have 
sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God. "  "The  wages  of 
sin  is  death. ' ' 

Redemption  is  rescue  from  the  results  of  the  fall.  This 
can  only  be  achieved  by  the  raising  of  the  race  from  the  dead 
and  restoring  them  to  the  presence  of  God.  To  effect  this, 
Christ  came.  Doing  no  sin,  He  gave  Himself  as  a  ransom  for 
those  who  sinned.  He  upon  whom  death  had  no  claim  gave 
Himself  to  death  that  he  might  satisfy  eternal  justice  and  give 
mercy  room  to  act.  Death  came  by  Adam,  life  comes  by 
Christ.  Through  one  act  death  entered  the  world,  through  one 
act  life  will  come  to  all  that  death  has  grasped.  "  As  in  Adam 
all  die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive."  Good  and 
bad,  believer  and  unbeliever,  male  and  female,  young  and  old 
will  be  raised  from  the  dead  and  brought  into  the  presence  of 
the  Eternal  Father.  This  is  the  work  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth, 
who  shed  His  blood  in  this  great  atonement  to  redeem  all 
mankind  from  the  fall. 

But  this  was  only  part  of  His  work.  He  died  not  only  to 
atone  for  original  sm  but  for  actual  sin,  and  to  become  the 
mediator  between  God  and  man.  ' l  Without  the  shedding  of 
blood  there  is  no  remission  of  sin;"  this  is  the  law.  His 
blood  was  shed  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world.  For  original 
sin  unconditionally,  for  actual  sin  conditionally.  Mankind  had 
no  part  in  the  commission  of  the  original  sin,  they  perform 
nothing  in  the  redemption  therefrom.  Its  effects  came 
through  no  acts  of  theirs ;  those  effects  will  be  removed  with- 
out anything  they  may  do.  No  conditions  are  required  as 
preliminaries  to  redemption  from  original  sin  ;  it  was  com- 
mitted by  Adam,  it  was  atoned  for  by  Jesus  Christ.  But  as 
each  person  is  guilty  of  his  own  sins,  so  he  must  comply  with 
the  conditions  which  will  entitle  him  to  the  full  benefits  of 
Christ's  atonement  for  his  own  sins.  Among  these  conditions 
are  faith,  repentance  and  baptism.  * 

Saving  faith  must  necessarily  include  the  Son  as  well  as  the 
Father  in  its  objects,  because  salvation  comes  from  the  Father 
through  the  Son,  and  as  Christ  died  for  all,  there  is  no  other 


BAPTI8M,    its  OBJECT,    KODI   AM>   EFFECT.  15 

name  but  Ili>  given  under  heaven  whereby  man  ran  be  saved. 
Repentance,  as  we  bave  shown,  includes  humility,  which  leads 
to  obedience,  and  baptism  follows,  in  which  is  given  to  the 
repentant  believer  that  remission  oi'  Bins,  obtained  through 
the  shedding  of  Christ's  blood  in  the  place  of  the  blood  of  the 
sinner. 

Baptism  as  a  part  of  the  gospel  is  the  complete  immersion 
in  water  of  a  repentant  believer,  by  I  man  having  authority 
to  act  "in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost"  All  this  is  essential  to  its  validity.  The  can- 
didate must  believe  and  repent  The  administrator  must  have 
divine  authority.  The  ordinance  must  be  performed  correctly. 
There  is  but  "one  baptism,"  as  there  is  but  "  one  Lord  and  one 
faith."  Any  other  kind  of  baptism  is  spurious  and  of  no 
effect. 

The  believing,  repentant  sinner,  after  making  covenant  with 
liod  to  forsake  evil  and  keep  His  commandments,  is  taken 
down  into  the  water  by  the  duly  authorized  and  ordained 
representative  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and,  being  dead  to  his  old 
sins  by  repentance,  is  buried  from  his  old  life  by  immersion  in 
watery  grave  ;  and  then,  raised  up  again  to  newness  of 
life,  is  "born  of  the  water,"  and  stands  on  earth  a  new  crea- 
ture in  Christ  Jesus.  He  is  clean  before  God.  He  is  as  pure 
from  guilt  as  a  new-born  babe.  Though  his  sins  were  as 
scarlet,  he  is  dow  washed  whiter  than  wool,  and  is  prepared  for 
the  next  Btep  on  the  straight  and  narrow  path  which  leads  to 
liie  eternal.  Happy  indeed  is  he.  Joy  unspeakable  fills  his 
heart.  Peace  indescribable  dwells  in  his  bosom.  Purity 
shines  in  all  his  nature.  He  has  entered  by  the  door,  into  the 
sheep  fold,  and  i>  one  of  the  flock  of  Christ.  The  load  of  his 
past  misdeeds  is  rolled  from  his  shoulders  and  he  is  free. 
The  liberty  of  the  gospel  is  his.  Henceforth  he  should  be 
the  servant  only  of  the  King  of  Kings,  and  a  soldier  of  the 
cross. 

But  he  has  a    warfare   to  fight  which  will   require  all  his 

igth,  resolution  and  fortitude.     For  he  has  come  out  from 

the   world    and    the    world    will    hate   and    persecute   him.  and 

malign  him.  and  try  to  despitefully  use  him.     The  flesh  of  his 

own  being  will  lie  in  conflict  with  his  spiritual  nature  now  brought 


16  "mormon"   doctrine. 

into  actual  life.  And  Satan,  the  great  adversary  of  the  child- 
ren of  light,  with  his  hosts  of  emissaries  will  take  special  pains 
to  tempt  and  try  to  allure  him  from  the  path  of  salvation. 
But  God  will  be  on  his  side,  and  if  he  holds  true  to  his 
baptismal  covenants  he  will  come  off  more  than  conqueror  over 
all,  and  obtain  the  full  and  complete  benefits  of  the  atonement 
wrought  out  by  the  spotless  and  merciful  Savior,  who  hence- 
forth is  his  loved  and  loving  Lord. 


THIRD    LEAF. 

The  Holy  Ghost,  its  Nature,  Office  and  Power — Conferred  Through 
the  Laying  on  of  Hands — Gifts  and  Fruits  of  the  Holy  Spirit — 
How  Obtained — Their  Object  and  Design — Effects  of  Its  With- 
drawal— Infinite  Riches  of  Its  Full  Inspiration. 

THE  repentant,  baptized  believer  arises  from  the  tomb  of 
water  cleansed  from  sin  and  washed  pure  of  iniquity. 
He  is  spiritually  resurrected.  His  old  life  is  gone.  He  is 
born  again.  This  is  a  type  of  the  bodily  resurrection  to  come. 
He  is  now  prepared  to  receive  the  Holy  Ghost,  which 
' '  dwelleth  not  in  unclean  tabernacles. ' ' 

This  is  an  endowment  from  on  high.  It  is  the  Comforter 
which  fills  the  absent  place  of  the  personal  Christ.  It  is  a 
manifester  of  truth.  It  bears  witness  of  the  Father  and  the 
Son.  It  is  the  light  of  eternity.  It  reveals  things  present 
and  past,  and  unfolds  events  that  are  to  come.  It  is  the  true 
scripture -maker.  By  it  the  prophets  wrote  the  word  of  the 
Lord.  It  proceeds  from  the  presence  of  God.  It  is  the  com- 
municating element  between  man  and  his  Maker.  It  is  the 
source  from  .which  flow  the  spiritual  gifts  of  the  gospel. 
Without  it  no  one  can  say  from  knowledge  that  Jesus  is  the 
Lord.  Without  it,  the  things  pertaining  to  immortal  spheres 
cannot  be  comprehended  by  mortals.  Without  it,  no  one  can 
see  the  way  which  leads  to  eternal  life.  Without  it,  none 
can  enter  the  kingdom  of  God. 

There  is  a  set  mode  by  which  this  great  gift  is  conferred 
upon  mankind.     God's  house  is  a  house  of  order.     His  laws 


THK    HOLY    (iHOST.  17 

are  set  in  the  spiritual  as  in  the  physical  universe,  and  there 
is  no  confusion  in  any  of  His  works.  The  ways  of  men  are 
not  His  ways,  and  He  does  not  bend  them  to  suit  men's 
diversified  notions.  To  obtain  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
the  necessary  conditions  must  be  complied  with.  These  we 
have  already  explained.  The  method  by  which  it  is  conferred 
is,  the  laying  on  of  hands  by  men  who  have  themselves 
received  it  and  have  been  called  of  God  and  ordained  to 
administer  it. 

True  faith,  genuine  repentance,  correct  baptism,  properly 
administered,  are  as  surely  to  be  followed  by  the  outpouring 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  through  the  laying  on  of  hands,  author- 
itatively administered,  as  the*  harvest  is  to  come  from  seed 
sown  in  good  soil  and  ripened  by  the  rains  and  sunshine  of 
heaven,  or  as  the  results  of  a  chemical  experiment  are  to  be 
achieved  when  the  needful  elements  are  correctly  compounded. 

The  effects  of  this  gift  upon  the  recipient  are  not  generally 
of  a  startling  character.  They  are  not  necessarily  physical. 
The  chief  office  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  to  enlighten  the  internal 
man  or  woman.  It  administers  to  the  spirit.  It  brings  peace, 
comfort  and  joy  to  the  soul.  It  gives  assurance  of  divine 
acceptance ;  and  it  establishes  inward  strength  to  resist  sin  and 
evil  and  lay  hold  upon  all  that  is  good.  But  it  does  not  con- 
vulse the  system.  It  produces  no  contortions  of  the  counte- 
nance. It  will  not  throw  people  to  the  earth  as  if  they  were 
dead.  Neither  will  it  cause  them  to  yell,  shout,  jump  around 
in  paroxysms  or  act  in  an  unseemly  manner. 

Its  internal  fruits  are  faith,  knowledge,  wisdom,  joy,  peace, 
patience,  temperance,  long  suffering,  brotherly  kindness  and 
charity.  Its  external  gifts  are  manifested  in  prophecies, 
visions,  discernments,  healings,  miracles,  powerover  evil  spirits, 
speaking  in  various  tongues,  interpretation  of  tongues,  etc. 

These  several  gifts  are  distributed  according  to  the  will  of 
God  among  the  various  recipients  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  One 
person  may  receive  several  of  them.  Some  may  not  obtain 
any  of  those  gifts  which  are  manifested  outwardly.  Neither 
are  the  latter  always  the  most  to  be  desired.  ll  Prophecy"  is 
better  than  "tongues"  as  a  gift,  though  the  latter  is  more 
showy,  and  wisdom  and  faith  are  better  than  either.      Divine 


18  "mormon"   doctrine. 

knowledge  with  divine  wisdom  in  its  use  is  a  gift  of  priceless 
worth,  bringing  joy  beyond  expression  to  its  possessor,  and 
conferring  untold  blessings  upon  others. 

These  various  gifts  of  the  Spirit  are  obtainable  through  the 
prayer  of  faith.  "Ask  and  it  shall  be  given  you"  is  the 
promise  to  the  Saints.  And  they  are  called  Saints  who  have 
obeyed  the  laws  and  ordinances  we  have  explained,  and 
received  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  But  their  desires  must 
be  pure  in  order  to  obtain  the  blessings  for  which  they  ask. 
These  are  not  given  as  signs  to  be  consumed  on  any  one's  lust. 
Neither  are  they  bestowed  as  wonders  to  create  astonishment 
or  feed  the  love  of  the  marvelous.  They  are  designed  for  the 
comfort  and  confirmation  of  the  faith  of  the  true  and  obedient 
believer,  and  as  tokens  of  the  love  of  an  indulgent  Father, 
and  they  must  be  used  in  wisdom,  or  they  will  be  withdrawn 
and  work  injury  instead  of  benefit. 

The  ceremony  of  the  bestowal  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  called 
confirmation.  As  baptism  is  the  birth  of  water,  so  confirma- 
tion is  the  birth  or  baptism  of  the  Spirit.  Both  are  necessary 
to  entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  whether  that  is  viewed 
in  the  light  of  the  Church  on  earth  or  the  glorious  dominion 
of  the  Father  in  heaven.  Only  they  who  are  led  by  this 
Spirit  are  truly  the  "  sons  of  God." 

As  it  is  bestowed  through  obedience,  so  it  may  be  with- 
drawn through  disobedience.  The  condition  of  those  who  lose 
this  gift  after  having  enjoyed  it  is  truly  lamentable.  The  light 
that  was  within  them  becomes  darkness,  and  their  last  state  is 
worse  than  their  first.  Their  spiritual  tastes  become  dead  or 
vitiated,  light  seems  to  them  darkness,  and  that  which  was 
once  their  greatest  delight  becomes  the  object  of  their  deepest 
aversion.  They  then  become  a  prey  to  influences  of  evil; 
hatred  and  malice  spring  up  in  their  hearts  towards  the  child- 
ren of  light ;  and  the  culmination  of  their  career,  if  persisted 
in  and  reclamation  does  not  come,  is  the  shedding  of  innocent 
blood,  for  which  there  is  no  forgiveness. 

The  possessor  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  infinitely  rich  ;  those 
who  receive  it  and  lose  it  are  of  all  men  the  poorest.  But 
there  are  various  degrees  of  its  possession.  Many  who  obtain 
it  walk  but  measurably  in  its  light.     But  there  are  a  few  who 


DIVINE  AUTHORITY.  ]'.» 

live  by  its  whisperings,  and  approach  by  its  mediumship  into 
close  oomm  anion  with  heavenly  beings  of  the  highest  order. 
To  them  its  light  grows  brighter  every  day.  For  them  are 
joys,  anticipations  and  glorious  hopes  that  thrill  no  other 
bosoms,  sweet  experiences  that  earthly  pleasures  cannot  bring, 
and  a  spiritual  growth  towards  the  stature  of  Christ  Jesus  that 
eternity  only  will  fully  untold  to  general  view. 


FOURTH   LEAF. 

Divine  Authority — Without  it   all  Gospel  Administrations  Vain — It 
Cannol  be  Acquired — The   Priesthood,  its  Antiquity,  Power  and 
uings — The  Priesthood   of  Mechisedec— The  Aaronic  Priest- 
hood— Priestcraft — The  Authority  of  God  Must  Come  From  God 
— Ordination— Value  of  the  Priesthood. 

^pHE  ordinances  of  the  gospel,  being  of  divine  origin, 
-1  require  divine  authority  in  their  administration.  Baptism 
at  the  hands  of  one  not  appointed  to  attend  to  it  is  void.  It 
is  therefore  without  value  and  without  effect.  If  any 
unauthorized  person  were  to  lay  hands  upon  a  baptized 
believer,  even  if  the  correct  form  of  the  ordinance  were 
observed,  the  Holy  Ghost  would  not  flow  to  the  subject.  No 
matter  how  good  the  intentions  of  either  party  might  be,  the 
lack  of  authority  would  vitiate  the  whole  transaction.  No 
company,  firm,  sociecy,  court  or  government  would  acknowl- 
edge or  become  responsible  for  the  acts  of  any  but  its  duly 
appointed  and  properly  accredited  agents.  Why  then  should 
the  Great  King  endorse  the  doings  of  men  who  take  upon 
themselves  duties  not  required  of  them,  or  bestow,  through 
their  unauthorized  performance,  blessings  that  belong  only  to 
the  administrations  of  Bis  chosen  ambassadors? 

It  is  strange  that  intelligent  persons  who  clearly  perceive  the 
necessity  of  valid  authority  in  human  affairs,  should  imagine 
that  it  is  not  necessary  in  divine  affairs  :  that  while  no  earthly 
potentate  would  be  expected  to   pay  the  slightest  attention  to 


20  "mormon"   doctrine. 

proceedings  of  any  pretended  representative  of  a  nation  or 
ruler,  the  Eternal  Monarch  of  the  universe  must  needs  honor 
the  acts  of  any  individual  of  a  devotional  cast  of  mind,  who 
chooses  to  perform  ceremonies  and  ordinances  in  His  great 
name. 

A  man  may  have  such  faith  in  God  as  to  obtain  choice 
blessings,  behold  visions,  receive  heavenly  gifts,  and  lay  hold 
upon  extraordinary  spiritual  powers,  and  yet  have  no  ris:ht  to 
administer  any  ordinance  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  Man  can- 
not acquire  this  authority  ;  it  must  be  conferred  upon  him  in 
the  appointed  way. 

In  every  age  when  the  Almighty  has  had  a  church  or 
organized  body  of  true  worshipers  on  earth,  He  has  sent 
among  them  men  who  were  authorized  by  Him  to  act  in  His 
name.  Of  such  were  Noah,  Melchisedec,  Abraham,  Moses, 
Elijah,  Peter,  James  and  John,  and  many  others.  They  were 
not  only  endowed  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  but  were  also 
appointed  and  set  apart  to  administer  needful  rites  in  God's 
stead.  What  they  sealed  on  earth  by  this  authority  was  sealed 
in  heaven,  and  what  they  loosed  on  earth  was  loosed  in 
heaven.  In  other  words,  what  they  performed,  as  directed 
of  God,  was  accepted  by  Him  and  was  of  the  same  force  as 
though  attended  to  by  Him  in  person.  Any  authority  less 
than  this  is  the  same  as  no  authority. 

This  delegated  power  from  God  to  man  is  called  the  Priest- 
hood. Sometimes  this  term  is  used  in  reference  to  the  men 
who  hold  this  authority.  Properly  speaking,  however,  it 
relates  to  the  office  rather  than  the  person.  Melchisedec  was 
a  great  high  priest,  and  the  authority  he  held  was  eternal  in 
its  nature  ;  without  beginning  of  days  or  end  of  life.  It  did 
not  depend  upon  lineage  either  of  father  or  mother,  and  it  is 
written  that  he  who  holds  it  in  faithfulness  "  abideth  a  priest 
continually  ;"  that  is,  he  retains  it  in  this  world,  and  also  in 
the  world  to  come.  Aaron  received  a  Priesthood  which  was 
of  another  order,  and  that  ran  in  a  family  line,  descending 
from  father  to  son,  and  was  subordinate  to  the  higher  Priest- 
hood after  the  order  of  Melchisedec. 

John  the  Baptist  held  and  administered  the  Aaronic  or 
lesser  Priesthood,  but  Jesus  received  and  acted  in  the  Mel- 


THE  PRIESTHOOD.  L'l 

chisedec  or  higher  Priesthood.  So  John  could  baptize  the 
repentant  for  the  remission  of  sins,  but  could  not  confer  the 
Holy  Ghost  as  Jesus  did.  In  like  manner,  Philip,  acting  in 
the  lesser  Priesthood,  could  baptize  the  people  of  Samaria, 
but  had  to  send  for  Peter  or  some  other  apostle  acting  in  tl it- 
higher  Priesthood,  to  come  down  and  lay  hands  upon  them, 
that  they  might  received  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Jesus  did  not  take  this  authority  upon  Himself  although  he 
was  the  Son  of  God.  ll  He  glorified  not  Himself  to  be  made 
an  High  Priest,"  but  His  Father  called  Him,  saying,  "Thou 
art  a  Priest  forever,  after  the  order  of  Melchisedec. "  Moses 
and  Elijah  held  similar  authority  in  their  day  and  retained  it 
when  they  left  the  sphere  of  mortality.  And  they  came  and 
administered  in  that  Priesthood  to  Jesus  on  the  Mount  of 
Transfiguration.  As  the  Father  called  Him,  so  called  He  the 
apostles,  and  so,  under  divine  direction,  they  called  and 
ordained  others. 

Thus  the  Priesthood  in  both  orders  or  branches  was  con- 
tinued in  the  early  Christian  Church,  until  through  trans- 
gression, it  was  taken  from  among  men,  and  in  its  place  a 
spurious  priesthood,  destitute  of  divine  authority,  divine 
inspiration  and  divine  power,  was  set  up  by  ambitious  and 
designing  men.  This  is  priestcraft,  the  base  counterfeit  of 
the  true  and  heavenly  coin. 

When  the  Priesthood  is  once  lost  it  cannot  be  regained 
merely  by  the  hopes,  wishes  or  acts  of  men.  No  matter  how 
strong  a  desire  any  one  may  have  to  benefit  his  fellow  man, 
he  must  not  attempt  to  administer  to  him  any  ordinance  or 
ceremony  of  the  gospel  unless  called  of  God  so  to  do.  And 
this  call  does  not  come  to  men  merely  kkin  the  heart"  or  the 
imagination.  A  great  many  enthusiastic  persons  have  felt 
themselves  "called"  to  the  ministry.  But  this  over-anxiety 
does  not  give  them  the  Priesthood,  any  more  than  strong 
wishes  of  a  politician  for  the  post  of  minister  to  Berlin, 
clothe  him  with  authority  to  represent  this  government  in 
the  German  empire. 

The  Priesthood  is  given  by  ordination.  When  there 
is  no  man  living  in  the  flesh,  who  holds  this  authority,  its 
restoration   can   only   be   effected   by    the   administration   of 


?2  "mormon"    doctrine. 


heavenly  beings  who  formerly  held  it  on  the  earth.  They  can 
return  when  so  permitted  and  instructed,  as  Moses  and  Elias 
did  on  the  mount.  But  when  the  link  is  restored,  they  never 
step  over  the  line  of  the  two  spheres  for  this  purpose  again, 
while  there  remains  one  man  on  the  earth  holding  the  legiti- 
mate authority.  For  (rod's  house  is  a  house  of  order,  and  the 
rights  and  powers  of  His  Priesthood  cannot  be  invaded  with 
impunity  either  by  mortal  men  or  the  heavenly  hosts. 

Under  divine  inspiration  and  certain  rules  and  provisions, 
those  who  hold  this  Priesthood  may  ordain  others  by  the  lay- 
ing on  of  hands.  Thus,  while  mankind  are  worthy  of  its 
administrations  and  accompanying  blessings,  it  may  be  per- 
petuated in  the  earth,  a  medium  of  communication  between 
Grod  and  man,  a  guide  for  the  feet  of  erring  mortals  to  the 
straight  and  narrow  path  that  leadeth  unto  life.  Without  it, 
the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  wander  in  spiritual  darkness,  and 
those  who  presume  to  step  forward  as  their  teachers,  are  blind 
leaders  of  the  blind,  and  all  their  ministrations  in  the  name  of 
Him  who  never  sent  them  are  vain,  worthless  and  without 
force  or  virtue  in  time  or  eternity. 


T1IK    (Mil  K(  II    <>F    CHRIST. 


FIFTH   Uv\I\ 

The  Church  of  Chris!     [ts  Onity— Christ's  Church  under  Bis  Personal 

Supervision  —  Rules    of     Admission     No     Others     Available — 

stleship  the  Chief  Authority— Other  Authorities  and  Minis- 

of  These — The  Church   1':  It  Casts  off 

Evil-Doers     Brotherhood  of  [ta  Members  —Mission  of  the  Church. 

THE  Church  of  Christ  is  an  organized  body,  consisting  of 
those  who  believe  in  Him  and  have  shown  their  faith  by 
obedience  to  the  initiatory  ordinances  of  His  gospel.  It  may 
contain  many  branches,  but  they  will  all  be  connected  with  the 
main  body,  and  will  all  have  the  same  characteristics  ;  that  is 
they  will  hold  the  same  doctrines  and  be  animated  by  the 
same  spirit.  No  matter  how  many  sections  of  the  Church 
there  may  be,  or  how  widely  they  may  be  separated  geographi- 
cally, they  will  be  governed  by  the  same  rule  of  discipline, 
and  be  under  the  direction  of  the  same  head. 

The  Church  of  Christ  must  be  established  under  His  own 
supervision,  and  according  to  His  commandments.  A  society 
of  persons  professing  to  believe  in  Him,  but  organized  with- 
out any  communication  from  Him,  is  not  and  cannot  be  His 
Church,  whatever  its  members  may  call  it,  or  however  sincere 
they  may  be  in  their  intentions.  Some  suppose  that  every 
one  who  believes  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ  is,  by  virtue  of  that 
faith,  a  member  of  His  Church.  This  is  a  palpable  error. 
A-  well  might  it  be  assumed  that  all  who  believe  that  the 
Order  of  Masonry  is  a  correct  form  of  brotherhood,  are  by 
that  belief  made  members  of  the  Order. 

All  societies  have  some  established  regulations  for  the 
admission  of  members.  The  Church  of  Christ  is  no  excep- 
tion to  the  rule.  But  the  initiatory  rites  in  His  Church 
arc  prescribed  by  Him,  and  no  one  has  the  right  to  change 
them  or  substitute  others  in  their  place.  They  are  uniform  for 
all  people,  of  both  sexes,  of  every  race  and  of  every  grade  <>t* 
society.        The    churches     established    by    men    have    various 


24  "mormon"  doctrine. 

modes  of  receiving  members  and  of  conducting  church  govern- 
ment. This  is  one  proof  that  they  are  the  churches  of  men, 
and  not  of  Jesus  Christ. 

We  have  already  explained  the  first  principles  of  the  gos- 
pel which  must  be  received  and  obeyed  in  order  to  obtain  a 
standing  in  Christ's  Church.  Those  who  have  believed, 
repented,  been  baptized  by  one  having  authority  for  the 
remission  of  sins,  and  have  been  confirmed  by  the  laying  on  of 
hands  for  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  are  thus  made  members 
of  the  Church  of  Christ.  And  this  is  the  only  way  of 
admission.  All  who  have  not  complied  with  these  rules  are 
outside  of  the  Church  and  can  get  in  by  no  other  door  than 
this  appointed  entrance.  Christ  will  not  accept  the  devices 
and  ordinances  and  ceremonies  ordained  of  men.  They  are  not 
His,  and  are  of  no  force  or  effect  so  far  as  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  concerned,  either  in  this  world  or  in  the  world  to 
come. 

Christ  is  the  head  of  the  Church,  as  man  is  the  head  of  the 
woman.  But  as  the  woman  has  also  a  head  to  her  own  per- 
sonality, so  has  the  Church.  The  apostleship  is  the  principal 
governing  authority  thereof.  When  Christ  ascended  on  high, 
the  earthly  headship  devolved  upon  His  apostles,  of  whom 
Peter,  James  and  John  were  the  chief.  There  were  also  the 
seventy  appointed  by  the  Savior  as  His  traveling  ministers, 
and  He  gave  other  officers  to  the  Church,  such  as  evangelists, 
pastors,  elders,  bishops,  teachers,  deacons,  etc.  All  these 
were  under  the  direction  of  the  apostles,  who  were  inspired, 
and  instructed,  and  led  by  Jesus,  even  after  His  ascension, 
and  were  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  bears  record  of 
the  Father  and  the  Son. 

A  church  which  has  not  inspired  apostles  nor  prophets,  can- 
not be  the  Church  of  Christ,  for  these  are  essential  to  its  full 
constitution.  All  the  officers  we  have  named  are  necessary,  in 
their  various  positions,  to  the  complete  organization  of  the 
"body  of  Christ." 

Through  these  apppointed  servants  of  God,  the  members  of 
the  Church  are  instructed  in  their  duties,  led  along  in  the  path 
of  truth,  admonished  of  their  faults,  rebuked  for  their  trans- 
gressions, brought  to  the  unity  of  the  faith,  corrected  of  their 


TllK    OHUROB    PROGRESSIVE.  25 

errors,  ami  when  they  become  evil-doers,  and  reformation  la 
not  probable,  disfellowshipped  from  communion  or  exoom- 
monicated  from  the  Church. 

The  Church  of  Christ  is  progressive.  That  is,  it  advances 
in  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  As  last  as  its  members  are 
prepared  for  additional  Light,  through  the  practice  of 
principles  already  revealed,  new  manifestations  are  given,  for 
the  growth  of  all  who  will  reeeive  the  truths  unfolded  towards 
tin'  fullness  of  the  stature  of  Christ  desus.  Old  truths  are  not 
discarded,  but  new  truths  are  added,  and  clearer  light  is 
thrown  upon  what  was  previously  known.  Thus  the  Church 
advances  and  prepares  its  eomuiunicauts  for  a  higher  sphere 
when  they  pass  away  from  the  plane  of  mortal  existence. 

But  while  it  casts  off  no  truth,  it  eliminates  from  itself,  by 
natural  process,  everything  obnoxious  to  its  health  and  vitality. 
Corrupt  and  wicked  persons  occasionally  find  their  way  into  its 
sanctuary  ;  some,  after  being  washed  from  their  impurities, 
turn  agaiu  to  their  filthiness,  and  others  become  rebellious  and 
discordant  These  incongruous  elements  are  gradually 
separated  from  the  body.  For  the  Church  is  a  living  thing, 
and  casts  off  that  which  does  not  assimilate  or  which  is  inimi- 
cal to  its  growth,  harmony  and  progress. 

The  members  of  the  Church  are  all  united  by  a  fraternal 
bond.  They  are  all  brethren  and  sisters,  no  matter  what  their 
condition  in  life,  no  matter  of  what  nationality.  Indeed 
nationality  is  >wallowed  up  in  fraternity.  They  are  no  longer 
Jew  or  (rentile,  English,  German,  Danish  or  American,  th ex- 
are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus.  They  are  no  more  Catholics  or 
Protestants,  Dissenters  or  Episcopalians,  but  are  baptized  by 
one  spirit  into  one  body,  and  in  all  essential  principles  have  one 
faith,  and  are  joined  together  in  the  same  mind  and  the  same 
judgment. 

The  Church  of  Christ  in  this  and  every  other  age,  is  con- 
nected with  the  Church  of  previous  ages.  That  portion 
behind  the  vail  works  in  harmony  with  the  new  Church  in  the 
flesh,  and  it>  members,  whether  in  the  body  or  out  of  the 
body,  move  to  the  common  end  :  the  establishment  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  upon  the  earth,  the  spread  of  the  principles 
of  the   true  Church,  until  "every   knee   shall   bow.  and  every 


26  "mormon"  doctrine. 

tongue  confess  that  Jesus  is  the  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the 
Father." 

Then  the  Church  will  have  filled  its  mission — to  preach  the 
gospel,  administer  in  its  ordinances,  unite  the  Saints,  manifest 
the  things  of  God,  establish  righteousness,  bring  together  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  and  make  straight  the  path  for  the 
Lord  Jesus.  And  the  vail  of  the  covering  will  be  taken 
away  ;  the  Church  of  the  Firstborn  will  be  one  in  all  things 
beneath  and  above  ;  evil  will  be  swept  from  the  earth  ;  and 
truth,  peace,  harmony  and  praise  will  glorify  this  planet  and 
its  inhabitants,  who  will  know  God,  from  the  least  even  unto 
the  greatest. 


SIXTH  LEAF. 

Apostasy  from  the  Primitive  Church — When  it  Commenced — The 
Apostles  Predicted  it — The  Apostasy  Universal — The  Woman 
Clothed  With  the  Sun,  and  the  Scarlet-Clothed  Harlot— What 
They  Represent — The  Reformation— Spread  of  Truth  but  Lack  of 
Authority — Multiplication  of  Sects — No  Voice  From  Heaven. 

COMPARISON  of  the  various  sects  of  modern  Christen- 
dom with  the  Church  of  Christ  as  established  by  Jesus 
and  His  apostles,  which  was  briefly  described  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  will  show  that  there  has  been  a  wide  and  remarkable 
departure  from  "the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints."  It 
is  contrary  both  to  scripture  and  sound  reason  to  think  that 
Christ  would  set  up  two  or  more  discordant  religious  systems 
to  distract  mankind  and  cause  strife  and  contention.  "God 
is  not  the  author  of  confusion. "  There  is  but  one  straight 
and  narrow  path  that  leadeth  unto  life.  The  mind  of  God  is 
oue ;  the  minds  of  men  are  various.  The  fact  then  that  there 
are  various  opposing  religions  in  the  world  is  conclusive  evi- 


APOSTASY    FROM   THE   PRIMITIVE  0H1  EU  II.  L'T 

denoe  that  men  have  been  engaged  in  their  invention.  It  is 
also  clear  that  they  have  established  very  imperfect  imitations 
of  the  true  Church  of  Christ. 

The  departure  from  the  order,  doctrine,  ordinances  and 
spirit  of  primitive  Christianity  commenced  at  a  very  early 
period.  Contentions  began  to  creep  in  among  the  early 
Baints,  and  they  Boon  commenced  to  array  themselves  in 
tactions,  some  being  of  Paul,  others  of  Apollos,  others  of 
Cephas,  etc.  And  the  inspired  leaders  of  the  Church  fore- 
Baw  the  great  apostasy  which  would  take  place,  as  may  be  seen 
from  their  epistles. 

Paul  declared  that  the  day  of  the  Lord's  second  advent 
would  not  dawn  until  a  l 'falling  away"'  should  occur.  He 
described  the  condition  of  apostate  Christendom,  when 
the  people  '"would  not  endure  sound  doctrine,"  but  would 
"heap  to  themselves  teachers,  having  itching  ears;"  when 
"doctrines  of  devils"  should  be  taught  instead  of  the  pure 
gospel  ;  when  they  would  have  "a  form  of  godliness,  but 
deny  the  power  thereof;"  and  Peter  declared  that  false 
teachers  would  arise  in  the  place  of  the  duly  authorized  ser- 
vants of  God,  and  bring  in  damnable  heresies  ;  who  "through 
covetousness  would  make  merchandise"  of  the  souls  of  men  ; 
and  by  whom  "the  way  of  truth  would  be  evil  spoken  of." 
This  "mystery  of  iniquity"  had  already  begun  to  work  even 
in  their  day.  and  rapidly  increased  after  their  departure. 

The  combined  powers  of  the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil, 
made  Buch  inroads  upon  the  Church  of  Christ,  that,  by  the 
time  when  John,  the  beloved  disciple,  was  banished  to  the 
isle  of  Patmos,  where  he  received  the  great  vision  known  as 
the  Book  of  Revelation,  only  Beven  branches  of  the  Church 
worthy  of  divine  mention,  and  some  of  them  had 
become  so  corrupt  that  terrible  denunciations  were  hurled 
against  them,  and  they  were  threatened  with  complete  rejec- 
tion. 

In  that  same  vision    the    inspired    apostle    beheld    the    utter 

and  universal  apostasy  of  the  Church  ami  the  Bpread  of 
spurious  Christianity  until  all  nations  were  "made  drunk 
with  the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  the  fornication"  of  Babylon, 
"the  mother  of  harlots  and  abominations/1      Instead  oi  the 


28  "mormon"  doctrine. 

chaste  Church  of  Christ,  clothed  with  the  sun,  the  moon 
under  her  feet  and  the  crown  of  twelve  stars  upon  her  head, 
the  scarlet-clothed  impostor,  sitting  upon  the  beast,  grasping 
a  golden  cup  full  of  filthiness  for  the  whole  world  to  drink. 
Regal  pomp  and  state  power,  instead  of  the  solar  glory  of 
the  Melchisedec  and  the  lunar  rays  of  the  Aaronic  Priest- 
hoods, with  the  stellar  crown  of  apostleship  shining  at  the 
head  !  Mystery  instead  of  light !  Painted  gaudiness  instead 
of  modest  purity  !  Names  of  blasphemy  instead  of  that  one 
sacred  name  at  which  every  knee  should  bow  ! 

When  the  lights  that  Christ  kindled  on  earth  to  lead  man- 
kind in  the  only  true  way  were  put  out  by  the  hands  of  mur- 
derous men,  darkness  overspread  the  world,  and  "gross 
darkness  covered  the  people. "  Errors  multiplied.  Heresies 
sprang  up  like  rank  weeds.  The  Spirit  of  Christ  gradually 
withdrew.  And  when  what  was  left  of  the  form  of  Chris- 
tianity became  allied  to  the  softened  paganism  of  the  Romish 
empire,  tne  angels  looked  down  from  afar  upon  another  tri- 
umph of  the  arch  adversary,  who  rules  as  prince  of  this 
world,  and  reigns  in  the  hearts  of  the  children  of  disobedi- 
ence. 

The  Papal  church,  seated  upon  the  Romish  State,  was 
fitly  prefigured  by  the  woman  upon  the  beast.  The  Church 
of  Christ  was  gone,  without  even  a  shadow  of  its  presence  to 
be  seen  upon  the  earth.  All  nations  were  blinded  and  intoxi- 
cated by  the  mystery  and  abominations,  the  heresies  and 
perversions,  the  pomps  and  vanities  of  this  spurious  ecclesi- 
astical system,  with  its  popes  and  cardinals  in  the  place  of 
apostles  and  prophets,  its  priestcraft  in  the  place  of  the 
Priesthood,  and  its  force,  bloodshed,  cruelty  and  lust  in  the 
place  of  the  love,  liberty,  peace  and  charity  of  the  departed 
Church  of  the  Redeemer. 

After  a  time  came  the  reformation.  Protestants  against  the 
tyranny,  falsehood  and  gross  villainies  of  this  blasphemous 
hierarchy  sounded  aloud  the  story  of  her  abominations  and 
shook  all  Christendom  with  the  force  of  their  eloquence. 
Anathematized  and  excommunicated  from  the  mother  church, 
they  established  new  churches,  discarding  many  errors  but 
retaining  as  many  more.      Still  further  "reformations"  were 


SPREAD   OF  TRUTH    BUT   LACK    OF   AUTHORITY.  29 

inaugurated,  originating  more  churches,  and  thus  Becta  pro- 
dnoed  Beets,  and   as   religious  liberty  increased   bo  religious 

systems  multiplied,  until  the  term  Christianity  covered  an 
inoongruous  mass  of  discordant  elements,  representing  all 
shades    oi'    human  opinion,   without    a    single   authoritative 

voice  deputed  of  heaven  to  harmonize  and  bring  them  into 
order. 

For,  though  immense  good  aeerued  to  the  world  through 
the  exposure  of  error  and  the  unfolding  of  truth,  which  were 
the  consequenee  of  the  reformation  and  its  successive  develop- 
ments, and  though  many  excellent  men  spent  their  lives  and 
suffered  cruel  deaths  for  principles  of  righteousness,  yet  there 
was  no  direct  communieation  established  between  them  and 
the  heavens,  and  that  authority  by  which  the  apostles 
administered  fur  and  in  behalf  of  the  Father,  the  Son  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  still  unrestored  to  man.  There  was  no 
inspired  prophet,  no  gifted  seer,  no  appointed  revelator 
through  whom  the  will  of  God  could  be  made  known.  There- 
fore, the  ordinances  of  the  gospel  could  not  be  administered 
acceptably  to  God,  and  all  such  ceremonies  as  were  established 
among  the  various  seets  were  of  necessity  void  and  without 
virtue  in  heaven. 

So  the  world  rolled  on,  and  men  framed  religions,  all  con- 
taining some  truth  as  well  as  some  errors,  and  many  persons 
who  would  have  done  well  in  advocating  what  they  believed 
to  be  right,  in  their  own  names,  undertook  to  assume  the 
name  of  the  Trinity,  and  to  officiate  as  though  authorized  by 
Jesus  Christ,  while  they  openly  admitted  that  there  had  been 
no  communication  from  on  high  for  centuries,  and  maintained 
that  the  days  of  revelation  were  gone  forever. 

And  thus  the  effeets  of  Mystery,  Babylon,  the  Mother  of 
abominations,  were  felt  directly  or  indirectly  throughout  all 
the  nations  professing  to  be  Christian,  and  millions  upon 
millions  of  mistaken  Bouls  passed  behind  the  vail  without 
receiving  the  principles  and  ordinances  of  salvation,  and  the 
living  and  the  dead  were  left  in  the  spiritual  darkness  of 
centuries  of  apostasy  to  wait  until  the  dawning  of  the  (Treat 
and  last  dispensation,  the  times  of  restitution,  when  the 
crowning  act  of  God's  mercy  to  man  >hould  be  performed, 


30  MORMON       DOCTRINE. 

and  the  ushering  in  of  the  millennial  day  should  bring  again 
to  the  world,  with  increasing  glory,  the  gospel,  the  Priest- 
hood, the  blessings  and  the  powers  of  all  former  ages,  for  the 
salvation  of  the  human  race  and  the  permanent  establishment 
of  the  Church  and  kingdom  of  Grod,  no  more  to  be  thrown 
down  forever. 


SEVENTH  LEAF. 

Restoration  of  the  Gospel — Ministration  of  an  Angel — Divine  Knowl- 
edge and  Divine  Authority  —  Keys  of  Former  Dispensations 
Revealed— Rebuilding  of  the  Church  of  Christ— The  Signs  Fol- 
lowing—  Coming  of  Elijah  —  Dispensation  of  the  Fullness  of 
Times— Triumph  of  the  Truth. 

HAVING  shown  the  universal  apostasy  from  the  Church 
established  by  Christ  and  His  Apostles,  we  now  turn 
with  pleasure  from  the  dark  picture  of  error,  strife,  confusion 
and  priestcraft,  painted  in  sombre  hues  during  a  long  succes- 
sion of  centuries,  to  a  more  cheering  and  truly  delightful 
subject. 

The  same  inspired  apostles  who  foretold  the  general  depar- 
ture from  the  "way  of  truth,"  also  predicted  the  restoration 
of  the  gospel,  the  ushering  in  of  a  later  and  final  dispensa- 
tion, and  the  ultimate  triumph  of  (rod's  kingdom  upon  the 
whole  face  of  the  earth.  After  seeing  the  dominion  of  the 
mother  of  abominations  extending  to  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world,  John,  the  beloved,  beheld  her  entire  destruction.  This 
was  preceded  in  the  vision  by  the  coming  of  an  angel  from 
heaven  with  the  everlasting  gospel  for  every  nation,  kindred, 
tongue  and  people,  and  the  cry  from  heaven,  "Come  out  of 
her,  my  people,  that  ye  be  not  partakers  of  her  sins  and  that 
ye  receive  not  of  her  plagues. ' ' 

We  are  able  to  state,  with  the  most  positive  assurance,  that 
the  angel  with  the  gospel  has  come,  and  that  the  voice  from 
heaven  has  been  utttered  as  a  warning  to  all  nations ;  that 


M1N1STK  mON    OE    \\    ANGEL.  3] 

the  gospel  will  be  preached  and  the  warning  will  be  Bounded, 
by  divine  authority,  to  every  tribe,  and  nation,  and  tongue, 
ph  Smith  was  the  chosen  instrument  in  the  hands  of  God 
to  revive  the  glad  message  and  direct  its  promulgation  to  all 
the  world.  Angela  do  not  travel  and  preach  to  mankind  in 
person;  when  they  bring  tidings  from  on  high  they  deliver 
the  heavenly  mandates  to  a  chosen  man  who.  in  turn,  makes 
them  known  t<>  his  fellows. 

But  though  the  ministry  of  angels  i>  not  general,  all  people 
may  know  thereof  of  a  surety  by  obedience  to  the  command- 
ments revealed,  which  is  followed  by  a  divine  witness  of  their 
truth  and  of  the  fact  of  the  manifestation.  Thus,  while 
Joseph  Smith  wis  selected  to  receive  direct  divine  communi- 
cations, every  one  who  in  faith  obeys  them,  obtains  a  satifi 
tory  testimony  that  the  message  i-  true  and  that  the  messenger 
was  authorized  to  declare  it. 

But  receiving  the  gospel,  whether  by  angelic  ministrations 
or  otherwise,  i-  one  thing,  and  obtaining  authority  to  preach 
it  and  administer  its  ordinances  is  another.  Knowledge,  light 
and  revelation  may  be  enjoyed,  and  yet  the  favored  recipient 
of  these  I  may  be  without  any  authority  to  perform 

any  official  act  in  the  oame  of  the  Lord  Joseph  Smith  not 
only  received  the  ministrations  of  the  angel  bearing  the< 
lasting  go-pel.  but  also  obtained  the  right  to  officiate  in  all  its 
ordinances,  rites,  ceremonies  and  end  iwments.  lie  did  not 
ive  this  auth  >rity  from  man.  A<  we  have  already  shown, 
it  had  departed  from  the  earth  centuries  before.  No  amount 
of  learnim:  would  bring  it.  No  college,  prelate,  potentate  or 
prie  t  could  confer  it.  All  the  wealth  of  the  world  could  not 
purchase  it.     It  d  >e>  not  come  by  the  will  of  man. 

How  did  Joseph  Smith  gain  it9  Boly  men  of  old.  who  held 
the  keys  of  this  power  in  former  dispensations,  came  to  earth 
as  ministering  spirits  and  ordained  him  to  the  same  offices 
which  they  held  in  mortality.  First  came  John  the  Baptist, 
who  was  beheaded  for  the  truth-  sake,  bearing  the  k. 
the  Aaronic  or  lesser  Priesthood,  and  ordained  Joseph  Smith 
and  Oliver  Cowdery  to  the  authority  thereof,  with  the  right  to 
preach  the  gospel  of  repentance  and  admin  ster  baptism  for 
the  i  >f  sios,     Unt  as  John  did  not  hold  the  power 


32  "mormon"  doctrine. 

when  on  earth  to  confer  the  Holy  Grhost,  he  did  not  presume 
to  bestow  it  upon  others.  Next  came  Peter,  James  and  John 
with  the  keys  of  the  Apostleship,  of  the  holy  Melchisdec 
Priesthood  and  of  the  dispensation  of  the  fullness  of  times, 
which  they  conferred  upon  Joseph  and  Oliver,  giving  them 
authority  to  ordain  others  to  this  ministry  and  to  confirm  bap- 
tized believers  by  the  laying  on  of  hands  for  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  G-host. 

The  lesser  Priesthood  holds  the  power  of  the  ministration 
of  angels  and  authority  to  administer  in  temporal  things.  The 
greater  Priesthood  holds  the  power  of  communion  with  the 
Highest  and  of  attending  to  all  things,  spiritual  and  temporal; 
for  the  salvation  and  exaltation  of  man  till  he  reaches  the 
actual  presence  of  the  Eternal  (rod,  and  shines  forth  in  the 
fullness  of  the  attributes  of  his  Almighty  Father. 

.  Thus  power  was  restored  to  rebuild  the  Church  of  Christ, 
to  preach  the  true  gospel ;  to  bapt;ze  penitent  believers  for  the 
remission  of  sins  ;  to  bestow  upon  them  the  Holy  Ghost,  bear- 
ing witness  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  and  of  acceptance  with 
them ;  to  appoint  and  ordain  all  the  various  ministers  neces- 
sary for  the  publishing  of  the  truth  to  all  nations,  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  the  perfecting  of  the  Saints  and  the  edifying 
and  government  of  "the  body  of  Christ.  " 

So  the  Cburch  was  set  up  in  these  latter  times.  Humble 
believers  received  the  word  with  gladness,  and  obeying  it, 
obtained  from  Grod  the  witness  of  its  truth.  The  signs  prom- 
ised to  believers  followed  them.  They  spoke  in  other  tongues, 
prophesied,  saw  visions,  dreamed  divine  dreams  and  enjoyed 
all  the  gifts  of  the  Church  as  did  the  saints  of  old.  The  sick 
were  healed  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,  devils  were  cast  out, 
the  deaf  heard,  the  eyes  of  the  blind  were  opened,  the  lame 
leaped  for  joy,  the  tongue  of  the  dumb  was  loosed,  the 
heavens  were  opened  to  human  view,  and  the  Holy  Grhost,  as 
on  the  day  of  pentecost,  rested  down  in  power  upon  the 
Saints  of  the  new  dispensation. 

Then  they  knew  for  themselves.  Doubt  had  fled,  the  dark- 
ness was  dispersed,  satan  trembled,  priestcraft  raged,  and 
while  the  tidings  of  the  restored  gospel  caused  joy  in  heaven 
and  praise  on  earth,  the  powers  of  evil  in  and  out  of  the  flesh 


THE   RESTORATION   OF  FBI   GOSPEL.  33 

conspired  to  fight  the  truth,  make  war  upon  believers  and  per- 
secute the  servants  of  God  unto  death.  Bui  the  Lord  strength- 
ened the  hands  of  Bis  people  and  poured  out  light  and  knowl- 
edge from  on  high.  The  hidden  things  of  ages  were  brought 
forth.  Revelation  after  revelation  was  multiplied  to  ihe  Church. 

Thou  came  Elijah  the  Prophet,  bearing  the  keys  of  the 
turning  oi'  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  the  children  and  of  the 
children  to  the  fathers,  that  the  link  of  the  broken  chain  of 
the  Priesthood  through  the  ages  might  be  welded  together, 
and  tin-  spirit  world  be  known  to  men  in  the  flesh.  Next 
came  Bloses,  the  man  of  God  with  the  keys  of  the  gathering 
of  l>rael.  that  the  remnants  might  be  brought  in  from  their 
Ion-  dispersion  and  inherit  the  lands  promised  to  their  fore- 
fathers. And  Raphael  and  Gabriel  and  other  holy  messen- 
also  appeared,  each  in  their  order,  bearing  the  keys  of 
their  respective  ministries  when  living  as  men  upon  the  earth, 
that  all  the  powers  needful  for  the  establishment  of  the  gnat 
and  last  dispensation  of  the  fullness  of  times  might  be  centered 
upon  the  head  of  the  man  chosen  to  open  it  to  the  world,  and 
that  he  might  bestow  them  upon  others  called  and  chosen  by 
the  spirit  of  revelation. 

Glory  to  God  in  the  highest !  The  straight  and  narrow 
way  is  « »pened.  The  silence  of  ages  is  broken.  Jehovah  speaks 
from  out  the  bosom  of  eternity.  A.ngels  again  come  down 
from  the  abodes  of  bliss.  Communication  is  restored  between 
man  and  his  Maker.  The  Holy  Ghost  again  comforts,  reveals 
and  bears  witness.  The  Bacred  gifts  are  once  more  enjoyed. 
All  earth  shall  hear  the  glad  tidings.  Every  soul  shall  be 
warned.  And  though  Joseph,  the  chosen  seer,  and  many  of 
hi.-  brethren  have  become  martyrs  for  the  truth's  Bake,  and 
the  bosom  of  mother  earth  is  Btained  red  with  the  blood  of 
the  persecuted  Saints,  the  Church  re-established,  the  Priest- 
hood restored,  the  truths  now  revealed  shall  never  be  token 
from  earth  again,  but  they  shall  spread  and  increase  and  pre- 
vail and  triumph,  until  darkness  and  evil,  ami  sin  and  Satan 
shall  give  way.  and  this  planet,  ransomed  and  redeemed  shall 
Decrowned  with  the  glory  and  presence  <>t  it>  rightful  Kim:. 

a    the   anointed,  the   sinles>   Son  of  the  omnipotent  God. 


34  "mormon"   doctrine. 


EIGHTH  LEAR 

Apparent  Doom  of  the  Majority  of  Mankind — No  Salvation  but  by- 
Jesus  Christ — Is  the  State  of  Man  Fixed  at  Death? — The  Common 
Belief  Incorrect — Preaching  to  the  Dead — The  Spirit  With- 
out the  Body  Sentient — Nature  of  Paradise — All  People  to  Hear 
the  Gospel  Either  in  this  Life  or  the  Next. 

ONE  of  the  great  difficulties  in  the  way  of  inquiring  minds, 
desirous  of  understanding  gospel  truth,  is  the  appare  t 
doom  of  the  great  bulk  of  the  human  family  to  perdition. 
The  declaration  is  plainly  and  positively  made  in  the  scriptures 
that  there  is  no  other  name  given  under  heaven  whereby  man 
can  be  saved,  but  the  name  of  Christ  Jesus.  It  is  also  pro- 
claimed that  "except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the 
Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God." 

Many  millions  of  the  earth's  inhabitants  have  passed  away 
without  hearing  the  name  of  Jesus,  or  having  any  opportunity 
of  the  privilege  of  the  second  birth.  And  the  query  arises, 
must  all  these  souls  be  lost  in  consequence  ?  And  if  so  can 
the  God  of  the  Bible  be  just?  Further;  the  question  comes 
up,  If  the  world  has  been  in  error  so  long,  and  the  Church  of 
Latter-day  Saints  is  the  only  true  Church  of  Christ,  what  has 
become  of  the  generations  of  professing  Christians,  who  lived 
and  died  in  the  centuries  between  the  loss  of  the  gospel  and 
the  Priesthood  and  their  restoration  in  the  present  age  ? 

The  difficulty  arises  through  lack  of  a  correct  understanding 
of  the  plan  of  salvation,  and  through  the  erroneous  doctrines 
of  unauthorized  teachers.  Orthodox  "  Christianity' '  affirms 
that  the  future  state  of  man  is  fixed  at  death ;  that  the  depart- 
ing spirit  goes  either  to  an  eternal  heaven  or  an  everlasting 
hell ;  and  that  there  is  no  possibility  of  change,  but,  to  use  a 
familiar  saying,  "as  the  tree  falls,  so  it  lies."  The  light  of 
modern  revelation  rolls  back  the  darkness  of  ages  and  unfolds 
the  glorious  plan  of  human  redemption  in  its  fullness,  and  the 
illuminated  soul  perceives  the  triumph  of  justice  in  union  with 


is  TilK  STATE  OF   MAN    FIXED   AT   DEATH?  35 

mercy,  through  the  extension  of  gospel  privileges  beyond  the 

narrow  Bphere  of  this  mortal  life. 

Why  slumM  the  opportunity  to  learn  and  the  power  to  obey 
the  truths  o\'  the  gospel  be  confined  to  dwellers  in  the  flesh  ? 
Is  it  to  he  supposed  that  when  the  immortal  spirit  leaves  its 
domicile  of  clay  its  powers  of  preeeption,  of  reason,  of  recep- 
tion or  rejection  of  truth  or  error,  of  submission  or  rebellion 
to  the  derive.-  of  heaven,  are  buried  with  the  decaying  body? 
The  idea  is  contrary  to  all  the  hopes  of  the  life  to  come  kindled 
in  the  heart  by  the  promises  of  the  gOSpeL  Tt  is  also  anti- 
Bcriptoal  There  is  nothing  in  holy  writ  which  establishes 
any  such  absurdity.  Paul  declares  that  all  men  shall  be 
judged  by  the  gospel  which  he  preached.  If  this  is  true  ami 
God  is  just,  must  not  all  men  hear  that  gospel  and  have  the 
opportunity  of  receiving  or  rejecting  it?  And  if  this  privilege 
has  not  been  granted  to  them  while  in  the  body,  must  it  not 
be  afforded  them  when  out  of  the  body? 

Peter  states  that  the  Lord  shall  "judge  the  quick  and  the 
dead."  and  explains  that  fc' For  this  cause  was  the  gospel 
preached  also  to  them  that  are  dead,  that  they  might  be 
judged  according  to  men  in  the  flesh,  but  live  according  to 
God  in  the  spirit. ' '  He  mentions  this  in  connection  with  his 
history  of  the  mission  and  works  of  Jesus,  who,  he  tells  us. 
was  "'  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  but  quickened  by  the  spirit : 
by  which  also  He  went  and  preached  unto  the  spirits  in 
prison." 

This  accounts  for  the  whereabouts  of  the  Savior  during  the 
interval  between  his  death  on  the  cross  and  His  resurrection 
from  the  sepulchre  in  the  rock.  At  His  appearance  to  Mary 
in  the  garden,  after  He  had  risen,  He  said,  "lam  not  yet 
tided  to  my  father."  During  the  three  days  of  His  body's 
Bleep  in  the  tomb  He  was  continuing  the  work  the  Father  had 
given  Him  to  do.  He  was  preaching  "deliverance  to  the  cap- 
tives, and  the  opening  of  the  prison  to  them  that  were 
bound." 

That  these  Bpirits  in   prison  had  been  in  the  flesh,     Peter 
makes  clear  by  stating  that  they  were  "  disobedient    *    *  in 
the  days  of  Noah,  while  the  ark  was  a  preparing."     The 
pel  was  thus  preached  also  to  the  dead,  that  they  might    have 


36  "mormon"    doctrine. 

the  same  opportunities  and  be  judged  by  the  same  gospel  as 
the  living. 

The  exercise  of  faith  is  an  operation  of  the  spirit  of  man, 
and  so  is  repentance.  These  lead  to  obedience  and  obedience 
to  acceptance  with  God.  The  body  without  the  spirit  is  dead 
and  can  neither  believe,  repent  nor  obey ,  but  the  spirit  with- 
out the  body  is  active,  sentient  and  capable  of  exercising  all 
of  its  powers  that  are  adapted  to  a  spiritual  sphere.  It  is 
only  through  the  medium  of  the  body,  however,  that  the 
spirit  can  handle,  experience  and  fully  control  or  be  subjected 
to  corporeal  things.  That  part  of  the  gospel  which  pertains 
to  earthly  ordinances  and  observances  is,  therefore,  unap- 
proachable to  the  disembodied.  But  they  can  learn  and  sub- 
mit to  all  its  spiritual  laws  and  influences  and  "  live  according 
to  God  in  the  spirit."  They  can  hear  the  gospel,  for  Christ 
preached  it  to  many  of  them  ;  they  can  obey,  for  He  not  only 
proclaimed  liberty  to  them  but  "He  led  captivity  captive," 
and  they  must  therefore  have  repented  and  become  acceptable 
to  God.  As  one  of  the  early  fathers  of  the  Church  said  of 
the  slain  Redeemer,  "  He  went  into  hades  alone,  but  he  came 
forth  with  a  multitude." 

The  Jews  of  Christ's  day  believed  that  there  were  two 
divisions  of  the  spirit  world  —  Paradise  and  Tartarus.  The 
good  went  to  the  former,  the  bad  to  the  latter.  Jesus  prom- 
ised the  repentant  thief  on  the  cross:  "To-day  shalt 
thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise."  This  is  not  the  abode  of  the 
Eternal  Father  but  of  departed  spirits,  where  they  wait  until 
the  resurrection.  A  place  of  instruction  and  preparation,  of 
peace  and  rest,  of  joy  and  serenity,  of  progress  toward  per- 
fection. And  into  this  abode  of  the  just,  Christ  led  from 
Tartarus  the  spirits  purified  and  chastened  through  their  cap- 
tivity, who  were  disobedient  in  the  flesh  in  the  days  of  Noah, 
but  had  suffered  for  their  rebellion,  and  in  the  spirit  had 
gladly  received  the  gospel  through  His  ministrations. 

And  thus,  in  the  due  time  of  the  Lord  all  who  have  dwelt 
upon  the  earth  in  any  age,  Jew,  Gentile,  heathen,  Christian, 
may  hear  the  glad  tidings  of  the  everlasting  gospel  preached 
by  those  appointed  and  authorized,  and  have  an  opportunity 
of  repentance,  improvement  and  reconciliation.     But  the  ordi- 


ORDINAN"  ES    E8SENTIAL.  37 

nances    which    belong   to   the  sphere   of  mortality   cannot    be 

received  in  a  spiritual  estate;  they  belong  to  the  flesh  and 
must  be  attended  to  in  the  flesh.  Consideration  of  the  means 
provided  by  Infinite  Goodness  through  which  the  benefits  of 

those  essential  ordinances  can  be  obtained  by  believing, 
repentant,  disembodied  persons,  must  be  left  till  the  unfolding 
of  another  leaf.  * 


NINTH    LEAF. 

Decrees  of  God  Fixed  in  the  Spiritual  as  in  the  Natural  Universe — 
Ordinances  Essentia] — The  Living  may  he  Baptized  for  the 
Dead — The  Principle  of  Proxy— The  Place  for  the  Administra- 
tion of  Vicarious  Ordinances — Revelation  of  Elijah,  the 
Prophet — Connection  with  the  Spirit  World — True  Order  oi 
Communication— Blessed    Results  <>\  Work    Done  for  the  Dead. 

THE  divine  fiat  has  gone  forth  that  "Except  a  man  be  born 
of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God. "  This  is  a  fixed  law.  The  same  certainty 
that  is  exhibited  in  the  government  of  the  material  universe 
obtains  in  the  spiritual  domain,  and  is  as  much  a  necessity 
in  one  as  in  the  other.  As  man  cannot  change  the  revolutions 
of  the  planets  nor  alter  the  principles  that  underlie  all  motion 
and  regulate  all  matter,  so  he  cannot  turn  aside  the  decrees  of 
Jehovah,  nor  modify,  in  the  least  degree,  any  rule  or  com- 
mandment pertaining  to  the  everlasting  gospel.  Neither  will 
He  who  reigns  in  the  unseen  world,  as  well  as  in  the  sphere 
perceived  by  the  senses,  swerve  from  His  established  laws  in 
the  former  any  more  than  in  the  latter. 

Baptism,  or  the  birth  of  water  in  the  form  and  mode  already 
described,  is  an  essential  ordinance.  There  are  others  equally 
Deeessary  in  their  time  and  place  in  the  divine  plan  oi'  human 

redemption.     They  must  he  rightly  received  and  administered, 

or  the  blessings  that    spring  Prom  them,  as  their  natural  fruit, 
cannot   be   enjoyed.       As   aliens  cannot    be   admitted    to    the 


38  "mormon"   doctrine. 

rights  and  privileges  of  citizenship  in  an  earthly  government, 
without  complying  with  the  naturalization  laws  in  such  case 
made  and  provided,  so  aliens  from  the  heavenly  kingdom  can- 
not be  received  into  its  dominion,  nor  be  adopted  into  the 
family  of  the  Eternal  King,  without  obeying  the  laws  set  as 
the  conditions  of  admission. 

These  laws  and  ordinances  will  be  made  known  to  the  inhab- 
itants of  this  planet,  either  in  the  flesh  or  in  the  disembodied 
condition.  They  will  have  the  opportunity  of  receiving  or 
rejecting  them  on  the  agency  given  to  man,  that  a  just  judg- 
ment may  be  rendered  in  the  great  day  of  accounts.  But  ordi- 
nances, such  as  baptism,  the  laying  on  of  hands  for  confirma- 
tion, ordination,  marriage,  etc. ,  belong  to  the  corporeal  sphere. 
They  are  set  for  the  state  of  probation. 

Water  is  an  earthly  element,  or  compound  of  elements,  and 
the  blessings  ordained  to  flow  from  the  death,  burial  and  new 
birth,  typified  by  authorized  baptism  therein,  cannot  be 
secured  in  any  other  way.  Millions  of  earth's  sons  and  daugh- 
ters have  passed  out  of  the  body  without  obeying  the  law  of 
baptism.  Many  of  them  will  gladly  accept  the  word  and  law 
of  the  Lord  when  it  is  proclaimed  to  them  in  the  spirit  world. 
But  they  cannot  there  attend  to  ordinances  that  belong  to  the 
sphere  which  they  have  left.  Can  nothing  be  done  in  their 
case  ?  Must  they  forever  be  shut  out  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven?  Both  justice  and  mercy  join  in  answering  "yes"  to 
the  first  and  "no"  to  the  last  question.  What,  then,  is  the 
way  of  their  deliverance  ? 

The  living  may  be  baptized  for  the  dead.  Other  essential 
ordinances  may  be  attended  to  vicariously.  This  glorious  truth, 
hid  from  human  knowledge  for  centuries,  has  been  made 
known  in  this  greatest  of  all  divine  dispensations.  It  is  indeed 
light  in  the  midst  of  darkness.  It  shines  in  the  depths  of  the 
shrouded  past,  illuminates  the  mystic  future,  and  reveals  the 
infinite  love  of  G-od  and  His  tender  mercy  over  all  His  works. 
It  explains  the  meaning  of  scripture  texts  long  considered 
difficult  and  obscure.  It  links  by  loving  ties  the  living  with 
their  dead.  It  shows  why  the  fathers  "without  us  cannot  be 
made  perfect."  It  opens  the  way  of  redemption  for  the  hosts 
of  departed  heathens.     It  brings  together  in  one  all  who  are 


THE   PRINCIPLE  01   PROX1  .  39 

in  Christ,  even  though  parted  by  the  vail  that  la  drawn  beti 
the  physical  and  spiritual  Bpheres,     It  gives  men  and  women 
the  power  to  become  "Saviorson  Mount  Zion,"  Jesus  being 
the  great  Captain  in  the  army  of  redeemers. 

In  God" 8  house  all  things  are  done  in  order.  There  la  a 
right  way  and  a  proper  place  for  the  administration  of  ordi- 
nancea  for  the  dead.  The  living  relatives  of  those  who  have 
departed  without  an  opportunity  of  obeying  the  earthly 
requirements  of  the  plan  of  salvation, if  they  have  themselves 
been  born  of  the  water  and  of  the  spirit,  stand  in  the  name 
and  place  of  the  departed  ami  receive  the  ordinances  to  be 
plaeed  to  the  credit  of  the  dead.  Either  sex  represents  its  own. 
Men  are  oot  baptized  for  women,  nor  women  for  men.  The 
fir.-t-born  son  in  each  family  has  rights  of  priority  connected 
with  this  vicarious  work  if  he  has  proven  himself  worthy. 
The  ordinances  must  be  administered  by  those  having  author- 
ity, being  set  apart  lor  the  work,  and  must  be  duly  witnessed 
and  properly  recorded.  The  books  on  earth  must  tally  with 
the  records  in  heaven. 

The  place  for  these  administrations  is  in  a  temple  built  to 
the  Most  High  God,  after  the  pattern  revealed.  The  baptis- 
mal font,  like  the  brazen  sea  in  the  temple  of  Solomon,  is 
placed  in  the  basement,  under  the  place  where  the  living  are 
wont  to  assemble,  typifying  the  place  for  the  dead,  all  things 
spiritual  having  their  correspondence  with  things  natural. 
That  which  is  done  on  earth,  according  to  the  divine  instruc- 
tion-, is  acknowledged  in  heaven,  and  is  of  force  and  effect  in 
the  world  to  come.  Herein  is  manifested  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Priesthood,  loosing  or  binding  on  earth,  and  it  is  loosed 
or  bound  in  heaven,  all  according  to  the  commandments  and 
revelation  of  the  Most  High  through  Jesus  the  anointed. 

Thia  principle  of  proxy  runs  like  a  thread  of  gold  through- 
out the  entire  robe  of  salvation.  Christ  is  the  proxy  of  blood 
for  the  whole  race  of  sinners.  The  Spotless  One  died  in  the 
place  of  the  impure.  He  is  the  offering  tor  the  deadly  sin  of 
Adam.  IL-  is  tin-  propitiation  for  the  evil  deeds  of  a  world. 
'Ph.-  lamb  on  i he  smoking  altar,  the  Bcapegoat  turned  into  the 
wilderness,  the  Bprinkling  of  atonement,  all  the  sanities  of 
the  old  covenant,  as  well  as  the  infinite  one  of  the  new,  are 


40  "mormon"   doctrine. 

based  on  the  doctrine  of  vicarious  action  and  the  divine  accept- 
ance of  authorized  substitutes. 

The  manifestation  of  this  truth  in  the  last  dispensation  came 
from  the  Prophet  Elijah  in  the  temple  built  to  the  Almighty 
by  the  Latter-day  Saints  in  Kirtland,  Ohio.  On  the  third  of 
April,  1836,  he  who  was  caught  up  to  heaven  without  death, 
appeared  to  Joseph  Smith  and  Oliver  Cowdery,  and  commit- 
ted the  keys  of  the  power  to  "turn  the  heart  of  the  fathers  to 
the  children,  and  the  heart  of  the  children  to  their  fathers," 
that  the  earth  might  be  saved  from  a  curse.  The  living  are 
thus  authorized,  under  prescribed  conditions,  to  act  for  the 
dead,  and  the  fathers  in  the  spirit  world  look  to  the  children  in 
the  flesh  to  perform  for  them  the  works  which  they  were 
unable  to  attend  to  while  in  the  body. 

Here  is  the  peculiar  blessing  upon  the  heads  of  the  Saints  in 
the  grand,  culminating  and  completing  dispensation  of  the 
fullness  of  times.  To  labor  for  the  redemption  of  their  progen- 
itors until  every  lost  link  in  the  line  of  their  ancestry,  back  to 
the  Abrahamic  stock  from  which  they  originally  sprang,  shall 
be  taken  up  and  welded  into  the  perfect  family  chain.  Herein 
is  seen  one  of  the  blessings  attending  the  perpetuation  of  a 
man's  name  in  the  earth  ;  to  die  leaving  no  seed  being  consid- 
ered in  olden  times,  among  the  people  of  God,  one  of  the 
greatest  of  calamities.  Indeed  the  glory  and  dominion,  and 
joy  and  rapture  of  the  future  state  will  be  found  to  have 
intimate  relation  to  the  family  condition,  and  the  promise  to 
Abraham  of  a  numerous  posterity  was  not  merely  of  earthly 
portent,  but  reached  into  the  exaltation  and  beatitudes  of 
eternal  existence. 

This  glorious  doctrine  bears  the  key  to  the  sphere  within  the 
vail  It  regulates  the  communion  of  the  living  with  the  dead. 
It  saves  those  who  receive  it  from  improper  and  deceptive  spirit 
communications.  Tidings  to  the  living  from  their  friends  who 
have  passed  away  do  not  come  in  disorder  and  confusion,  nor 
by  the  will  of  men  or  women,  whether  corrupt  or  pure.  Order 
is  maintained  in  all  the  works  and  ways  of  Grod.  Knowledge 
that  is  needful  concerning  the  spiritual  sphere  will  come  through 
an  appointed  channel  and .  in  the  appointed  place.  The 
temple  where  the  ordinances  can  be  administered  for  the  dead, 


RESULTS  OF  WORE    DONE   FOB  THE   DEAD.  41 

is  the  plaoe  to  hear  from  the  dead.  The  Priesthood  in  the 
flesh,  when  it  is  necessary,  will  receive  communications  from 
the  Priesthood  behind  the  vail.  Most  holy  conversations 
on  all  things  pertaining  to  the  redemption  of  the  race,  belong 
in  the  places  prepared  in  the  temples. 

The  Saints  in  the  flesh  are  required  to  use  all  due  diligence 
in  obtaining  their  genealogies  by  the  means  at  command,  and 
a  spirit  has  moved  upon  men  in  the  world  to  collect  and  per- 
fect and  publish  the  records  of  their  ancestors,  by  which, 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  acceptable  names  have  been 
obtained,  and  the  work  of  vicarious  baptism  already  done  is 
immense.  But  that  which  remains  to  be  accomplished  is  so 
Tast,  that  no  mind,  unless  illuminated  by  the  light  of  God,  can 
see  how  it  can  ever  be  performed  and  perfected.  Yet  it  will 
be  done,  and  blessed  are  they  who  aid  in  the  heavenly  labor! 
With  what  joy  will  they  be  greeted  by  the  spirits  of  their  pro- 
genitors when  they  meet  them  in  Paradise  !  What  honor  will 
crown  their  brows  in  the  day  of  reward  and  compensation  ! 
They  will  stand  among  the  saviors,  and  shine  among  their 
kindred  who  are  redeemed,  like  glorious  suns  in  the  heavenly 
constellations  ! 

This  divine  plan  of  vicarious  action,  is  one  of  the  broadest, 
brightest  and  loveliest  leaves  in  the  blessed  tree  of  life.  It 
bears  a  healing  balm  for  millions  upon  millions  of  earth's  sons 
and  daughters  who  have  passed  away  without  hearing  the  only 
name  whereby  man  can  he  saved,  or  who,  having  heard,  were 
never  taught  the  way  of  salvation  as  ordained  through  .1 
Christ  It  is  redolent  of  the  love  and  mercy  of  the  Eternal 
Father,  and  bears  the  sweet  perfume  of  charity  and  gratitude 
of  the  children  reaching  out  after  the  fathers,  of  the  fathers 
blest  in  the  works  of  the  children,  and  of  kindred  affect  inn 
enlarged,  cemented  and  perpetuated  for  ever  and  ever.  It 
parts  the  vail  between  the  physical  and  the  spiritual,  it  softens 
the  heart,  and  brings  the  living  and  the  dead  nearer  to  God, 
and  it  sanctifies  the  bouI  to  obedience,  worship  and  devotion, 
filling  it  with  reverence  and  adoration  of  Him  who  has 
devised  this  broad  and  universal  plan  for  the  redemption  of 
the  human  race. 
2* 


42  "mormon"   doctrine. 


TENTH  LEAR 

Universality  of  Death — Eesults  of  the  Transgression  of  Law — Dis- 
solution of  the  Body  not  the  End  of  Existence — What  is  Resur- 
rection? —  The  Spiritual  Body  of  Jesus  —  All  to  be  Raised  from 
the  Dead  —  The  Order  of  the  Resurrection  —  Necessity  of  an 
Immortal  Body — Ignorance  of  the  Laws  of  Nature  —  Matter 
Indestructible  —  Possibilities  of  Creative  Energy  —  Life  and 
Immortality  Brought  to  Light. 

"PvEATH  is  the  common  heritage.  It  is  a  legacy  to  all  the 
U  childreD,  left  by  our  first  progenitor.  It  is  the  result  of 
transgression,  the  penalty  of  violated  law.  The  immortal  pair 
who  dwelt  in  Eden  fell  into  mortality  through  sin.  Immor- 
tality is  the  power  of  continued  existence.  But  "all  things 
are  governed  by  law."  Sin  is  law-breaking.  To  live  for  ever 
requires  perpetual  obedience  to  the  laws  of  everlasting  life. 
"  That  which  is  governed  by  law  is  preserved  by  law."  By 
the  same  rule  reversed,  the  reverse  obtains.  Therefore,  that 
which  is  immortal  and  obeys  not  the  laws  of  immortality,  will 
become  mortal.  If  obedience  insures  preservation,  disobe- 
dience involves  destruction.  Law  reigns  in  the  highest  as  well 
as  in  the  lower  spheres  of  being.  Eternal  life  involves  eternal 
compliance  with  the  laws  of  existence. 

All  seeds  produce  their  own  kind.  Mortal  beings  beget 
mortality.  When  the  parents  of  our  race  became  mortal 
through  breaking  the  law  of  their  immortal  condition,  they 
brought  death  to  their  offspring  as  well  as  to  themselves. 
"In  Adam  all  die."  The  curse  of  death  smites  the  whole 
family.  "It  is  appointed  unto  man  once  to  die."  No 
ingenuity  he  can  exercise  or  precautions  he  can  adopt  will 
avert  the  impending  doom.  The  decree  has  been  proclaimed, 
"Thou  shalt  surely  die,"  and  it  is  irrevocable.  The  taint  that 
came  from  the  tree  of  death  whose  fruit  was  forbidden,  descends 


DEATH    NOT  THE   BUD   OF    r.\  43 

to  all  generations,  and  every  variety  of  form  and  feature,  aud 
color  and  stature,  and  tendency   and  peculiarity,  have  the  one 
common  characteristic,  the  certainty  of  death. 
Hut  is  the  dissolution  of  the  body  the  end  of  existence? 

Not  at  all.  We  have  seen  that  the  part  of  man  that  & 
from  heaven  lives  on  when  that  which  coinds  from  the  earth 
returns  to  the  earth.  Vet  this  is  not  sufficient.  The  query 
arises,  Shall  this  body,  made  mortal  through  transgression, 
remain  lor  ever  under  the  penalty  of  the  broken  law,  or  are 
there  some  means  of  expiation  for  the  sin,  and  restoration 
from  the  doom,  its  <on>equence?  Are  all  the  association^ 
formed  in  the  flesh  and  pertaining  to  this  mortal  state,  to 
perish  with  the  decayed  body  and  be  scattered  like  the  dust 
to  which  it  is  resolved  ?  Are  the  fond  relations  of  husband 
and  wile,  and  parent  and  child  to  be  dissolved  forever?  Is 
this  exquisitely,  "  fearfully  and  wonderfully"  formed  mechan- 
ism, with  the  experiences  of  its  temporal  existence,  to  be 
obliterated  and  lose  its  identity  in  the  material  universe? 

The  answer  comes  down  from  the  remotest  ages,  like  sweet 
and  sacred  music  whose  tones  swell  and  increase  as  the  chorus 
is  joined  by  the  voices  of  the  prophets  and  saints  of  each  suc- 
ceeding dispensation,  until  the  grand  harmony  thrills  every 
respondent  soul.  The  burden  of  the  song  is  in  the  words  of 
the  poetic  Isaiah:  "Thy  dead  men  shall  live,  together  with 
my  dead  body  shall  they  arise.  Awake  and  sing,  ye  that 
dwell  in  dust  :  lor  thy  dew  is  as  the  dew  of  herbs,  and  the 
earth  shall  cast  out  the  dead."  And  the  ringing  tones  of  Job 
the  ancient  are  heard  as  a  solo  whose  melody  reaches  unto 
heaven  :  ll  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,  and  that  he  shall 
stand  at  the  latter  day  upon  the  earth  ;  and  though  after  my 
.-kin  worms  de-troy  this  body,  yet  in  my  flesh  shall  1  >ce<i<Ml!" 

The  fiiitli  of  all  people  who  have  communed  with  God  or 
have  been  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  ha-  been  that  they 
Bhould  Ik-  resurrected  from  the  dead.  They  not  only  had  the 
assurance  of  Bpirit  life  beyond  the  grave,  but  of  the  revivifi- 
cation of  the  material  body.  The  signification  of  the  word 
stand  up  again."  That  which  was  laid  down 
was  to  be  raised  up.  The  n  lease  of  the  immortal  Bpirit  from 
the  mortal  body  would  not  answer  to  this.     It  was  this  mortal 


44  "mormon"   doctrine. 

that  was  to  put  on  immortality,  this  corruptible  that  was  to 
put  on  incorruption. 

To  make  this  matter  certain,  Jesus,  who  expiated  the 
primal  sin,  after  being  offered  on  the  cross  as  the  great  sacri- 
fice, gave  up  the  ghost.  His  lifeless  body  was  taken  down, 
embalmed  and  buried  in  a  new  tomb  hewed  out  of  the  rock. 
It  was  guarded  by  Roman  soldiers.  On  the  third  day  from 
the  interment  that  body  came  forth  alive  from  the  grave.  The 
same  Jesus  who  was  crucified  appeared  again  among  His  dis- 
ciples, and  proved  that  the  same  body  interred  was  brought 
forth  again,  by  exhibiting  the  wounds  made  by  the  nails  and 
the  spear,  by  permitting  them  to  touch  Him,  by  eating  and 
conversing  with  them,  and  by  repeated  visits. 

This  was  not  a  mere  manifestation  of  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  but  a  demonstration  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body. 
Yet  that  body  was  transformed.  The  corruptible  blood  was 
purged  from  the  veins,  and  incorruptible  spiritual  fluid  occu- 
pied its  place.  It  was  buried  a  natural  body,  it  was  resur- 
rected a  spiritual  body.  Here  then,  was  a  pattern  of  that 
which  is  to  come.  This  was  the  "first  fruits  of  them  that 
slept,"  a  glorious  sample  of  the  great  harvest  of  the  summer 
of  redemption. 

Now  the  sacrifice  of  the  Savior  had  as  one  of  its  chief 
objects  the  restoration  of  mankind  to  the  condition  lost  by  the 
fall.  "As  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be 
made  alive. ' '  Death  came  to  the  race  through  one  man's  sin  ; 
life  comes  to  the  race  through  one  man's  atonement  for  that 
sin.  The  remedy  is  as  broad  as  the  disease.  The  plan  is  per- 
fect. This  is  why  Christ  is  called  "  The  resurrection  and  the 
life. ' '  By  virtue  of  His  triumph  over  sin  and  His  voluntary 
submission  to  death,  which  had  no  valid  claim  upon  Him, 
being  sinless,  He  obtained  the  keys  of  redemption  for  all  the 
sleeping  dust  of  the  Adamic  family.  So  He  made  no  idle 
boast  or  mystic  figure  of  speech  when  he  declared,  "  The  hour 
is  coming,  in  which  all  that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  His 
voice,  andjshall  come  forth ;  they  that  have  done  good,  unto  the 
resurrection  of  life  ;  and  they  that  have  done  evil,  unto  the 
resurrection  of  damnation. 

The  raising  of  the  dead,  though  universal,  is  not  simul- 


THK   RESUttBECTION.  45 

taneous.  When  Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  He  will 
first  redeem  those  that  arc  in  Him.  Having  put  on  Christ  and 
received  of  His  spirit,  they  will  come  forth  at  His  call  to  meet 
Him.  They  who  have  part  in  the  first  resurrection  are  those 
who  have  died  in  the  Lord  and  are  blessed  and  holy.  Their 
bodies  will  he  fa.>hioned  like  unto  His  glorious  body.  Having 
been  planted  in  the  likeness  of  His  death  they  will  be  also  in 
the  likeness  of  His  resurreetion.  That  is,  they  will  be  quick- 
ened by  the  celestial  glory  and  be  placed  in  a  condition  to 
receive  a  fullness  thereof,  and  inherit  all  things  as  joint  heirs 
with  Christ. 

The  wicked  dead  remain  unquickened  for  a  thousand  years. 
They  reap  the  fruits  of  their  evil  seeds  sown  in  lives  of  trans- 
gression. They  drink  the  dregs  of  a  bitter  cup.  Some  are 
beaten  with  many  stripes,  others  with  but  a  few.  Justice 
metes  out  to  them  their  dues.  And  when  they  come  forth  to 
stand  up  in  their  bodies,  they  will  not  be  quickened  by  the 
celestial  glory,  but  by  that  for  which  they  are  fitted  by  their 
respective  conditions  consequent  upon  their  earthly  acts,  and 
they  will  occupy  positions  accordingly.  But  all  will  be 
redeemed  in  due  season  from  the  grave  and  stand  the  scrutiny 
of  the  All-Seeing  Eye  and  the  judgment  of  unswerving 
Justice,  which  will  determine  their  eternal  future. 

In  this  age  of  general  doubt,  when  human  reason  is  exalted 
above  divine  testimony,  and  the  voice  of  faith  is  drowned  by 
the  clamors  of  pretended  science,  the  possibility  and  use  of  a 
resuscitation  of  the  body  are  scouted  and  denied.  But  "all 
things  are  possible  to  them  that  believe,"  and  the  divinely 
illuminated  mind  can  perceive  not  only  the  use,  but  the  n< 
sit y  of  the  iv>urrection. 

The  being  that  was  placed  in  Eden  and  endowed  with  power 
to  wield  dominion  over  all  created  things,  was  a  living  soul, 
a  Bentient  spirit  in  an  immortal  body,  a  man  fashioned  in  the 
image  of  God.  He  fell  from  that  condition  and  paid  the  pen- 
alty of  death.  Christ's  atonement,  as  we  have  seen  restores 
him  to  his  original  condition.  But  this  he  cannot  have  with 
out  his  body  again  made  immortal  By  the  workings  of  the 
grand  scheme  of  human  exaltation,  he  and  hi-  posterity,  with 
the  benefits  of  the  lessons  of  experience,  will  be  restored  t<> 


46  "mormon"    doctrine. 

the  immortality  and  pleasures  of  the  primeval  paradise,  and 
placed  on  the  path  of  eternal  progress. 

And,  mark  this,  a  body  framed  out  of  the  grosser  elements 
is  essential  to  the  perfect  happiness  and  power  of  the  refined 
spiritual  organism  which  possesses  it  as  a  tabernacle.  The 
principle  of  affinites  and  of  the  attraction  and  communion  of 
similars  proclaim  this  truth.  Spirit  ministers  to  spirit. 
Things  of  a  like  nature  cohere.  The  higher  or  spiritual  ele- 
ment reaches  upward  to  the  loftiest  things  ;  the  lower  or  fleshy 
element  reaches  downward,  and  the  twain,  inseparably  com- 
bined and  governed  by  the  laws  of  right  and  truth,  draw 
pleasure  and  delight  from  the  heights  and  depth  of  the  bound- 
less universe  and  the  ever-extending  spheres  of  eternal  intelli- 
gence. A  disembodied  spirit  is  imperfect,  and  requires 
clothing  with  its  denser  parts.  Without  them,  its  affinities 
would  lie  in  but  one  direction,  and  its  joy  and  progress  would 
be  limited. 

The  family  condition  too  is  formed  in  the  embodied  state. 
Death  separates  the  husband  and  wife,  the  parents  and  chil- 
dren. The  resurrection,  in  its  highest  conditions,  reunites 
them  and  restores  all  that  was  lost  in  the  grave.  Who  can 
picture  the  bliss,  the  glory,  the  power,  the  might,  the  dominion 
and  majesty  that  shall  grow  out  of  the  redemption  from  the 
dead  of  the  righteous  man  and  his  household,  dwelling  in  per- 
fect harmony  and  peace  with  all  the  powers  of  their  being, 
spiritual  and  physical,  purified,  quickened,  intensified  and 
enlarged  to  a  fullness,  with  all  eternity  before  them  for  the 
exercise  thereof  in  accordance  with  the  designs  of  the  Great 
Greater?  It  is  beyond  the  skill  of  man  to  depict  it,  and  no 
mortal  mind  can  comprehend  it  without  spicial  divine  illumin- 
ation. 

And  who  shall  define  the  impossible,  or  draw  the  bounds  of 
the  powers  of  the  Creator?  The  secret  of  ordinary  life  is  hid- 
den from  the  scrutiny  of  the  most  profound  scientist.  He 
knows  not  the  mystery  of  the  vital  principle  that  quickens  even 
the  lowest  form  of  animated  nature.  His  own  powers  of  mind 
and  motion  are  incomprehensible  to  him.  Their  origin  and 
cause  are  beyond  his  ken,  and  he  cannot  solve  the  problem 
any  better  than  the  ignorant  Hottentot  or  the  untutored  Indian. 


INDESTRUCTIBILITY  OF   MATTER.  47 

The  reproduction  of  plants  from  their  seeds,  the  evolving  of 
life  out  of  the  midst  of  their  death,  is  a  wonder  unexplained. 

And  shall  we  say  that  it  is  impossihle  fol  the  Power  that 
regulates  the  universe  to  reanimate  a  defunct  body  ? 

It  must  be  remembered  that  nothing  in  nature  is  annihil- 
ated No  particle  of  matter  i>  destroyed  by  any  process.  What 
is  called  death  is  but  a  change  of  form.  All  matter  is  not  visi- 
ble to  the  human  eye.  A  body  may  exist,  but  so  transformed 
as  to  be  imperceptible  to  the  natural  vision.  The  forces  that 
regulate  the  universe  are  occult,  and  though  some  of  the  laws 
that  govern  them  are  known,  there  are  others  that  have  not 
been  discovered,  and  it  is  the  height  of  presumption  for  those 
who  have  obtained  a  smattering  of  information  concerning 
these  things — and  who  has  obtained  more  ?— to  declare  that 
impossible  which  they  know  nothing  of,  or  to  limit  the  power  of 
that  creative  or  quickening  energy,  whose  nature,  capabilities 
and  qualities  they  cannot  comprehend  in  the  smallest  degree. 

If  one  dead  body  has  been  raised  to  life,  unnumbered  mill- 
ions may  also  be  revived.  That  one  we  haye  in  the  person  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and  He  is  the- forerunner  of  all  the  race. 
Let  the  sons  and  daughters  of  men  rejoice  and  give  thanks  to 
Him  who  has  wrought  out  this  great  redemption.  Death  is  con- 
quered. The  grave  has  no  terrors.  Life  and  immortality  are 
brought  to  light.  Eternity  with  all  its  prospects  and  capabilities 
is  open  to  the  view.  And  through  the  power  of  the  resurrec- 
tion vested  in  Christ  Jesus,  the  whole  globe  shall  deliver  up  its 
dead,  and  the  great  progenitor  of  our  race,  Adam,  the  "Ancient 
of  Bays,"  shall  stand  forth  at  the  head  of  his  posterity  all  quick- 
ened  and  animated  by  the  spirit  of  life  ;  and  while  Jesus  the 
Son  is  hailed  as  the  mighty  Redeemer,  God  the  Eternal  Father 
shall  be  honored  and  worshiped  for  ever  as  the  Author  of  our 
being,  from  whom  springs  all  life,  light,  power  and  glory 
throughout  the  vast  domains   of  universal  sj 


48  "mormon"   doctrine. 


ELEVENTH    LEAF. 

Man  or  Woman  Alone  Imperfect — Marriage  Ordained  of  God — Sanc- 
tity of  Proper  Sexual  Eelations — Matrimony  a  Part  of  Religion 
— The  First  Pair  Immortal — Marriage  for  Eternity — Keys  of 
Celestial  Marriage  —  Condition  of  Those  who  Marry  Only  for 
Time — Man  the  Head  of  the  Woman — Plurality  of  Wives — Con- 
tinuation of  the  Righteous  Forever — Eternal  Family  Organiza- 
tions— Everlasting  Increase  and  Dominion. 

NO  man  or  woman,  separate  and  single,  can  attain  the  full- 
ness of  celestial  glory.  Perfection  of  being,  happiness, 
exaltation  or  dominion,  is  unattainable  by  either  sex  alone. 
The  nature,  desires,  capabilities  and  manifest  design  of  both 
male  and  female  humanity  proclaim  this,  and  the  voice  of 
Deity  has  endorsed  and  sanctified  the  utterance  of  nature. 
Woman  was  made  for  man.  Marriage  is  ordained  of  Grod. 
In  its  correct  form  it  is  under  the  divine  direction.  The 
Father  of  the  race  has  the  right  to  a  voice  in  the  sexual 
unions  of  His  children.  Those  relations  are  fraught  with  so 
much  consequence,  relating  to  time  and  eternity,  that  the 
Supreme  Ruler  should  regulate  them  for  the  benefit  of  the 
parties,  the  welfare  of  society  and  the  good  of  posterity  in 
this  world,  as  well  as  for  eternal  results  in  the  life  to  come. 

The  male  and  female  elements  of  humanity  seek  union,  of 
their  own  volition.  The  natural  attraction  that  prompts  this 
is  right  and  proper.  But  if  there  were  no  rules  and  restric- 
tions for  the  government  of  these  tendencies  and  the  actions 
resultant,  confusion  would  ensue,  and  the  effects  would  be 
sorrow,  ruin  and  destruction.  Matrimony  therefore  becomes 
a  part  of  religion.  It  is  a  divine  institution,  and  hence 
should  be  divinely  directed.  The  first  marriage  on  record 
was  solemnized  by  Deity.  It  was  Grod  who  said,  "  It  is  not 
good  that  the  man  should  be  alone. ' '  It  was  God  who  brought 
Eve  and  gave  her  to  Adam.  It  was  God  who  commanded 
the  twain  made  one  flesh  to  "increase  and  multiply." 


KARRIAGI  ORD  LINED  01    GK)D. 

Marriage,  properly  contracted,  is  therefore  holy  and  pure, 
and  its  relations,   unabused,   are  Bacred  and  chaste      The 

notion  that  celibacy  is  purer  than  matrimony,  that  either  man 
or  woman  is  holier  in  the  Bight  of  heaven  because  of  non- 
intercourse  with  the  other  sex,  is  nor,  unwarranted 

by  reason  or  revelation.  There  is  no  attribute  of  the  mind  or 
function  of  the  body  that  is  in  itself,  or  in  its  legitimate 
exercise,  impure  <>r  degrading.  It  is  only  the  wrong  use  of 
any  of  our  powers  that  is  >inful. 

The  first  marriage  recorded  in  scripture  was  the  union  of 
immortals.  The  curse  of  death  had  not  been  pronoui 
when  the  ceremony  was  solemnized.  There  was  no  sin  then, 
and  therefore  there  was  DO  death.  The  man  and  woman 
became  one  bs  eternal  beings,  and  dominion  was  given  to 
them  over  all  earthly  things,  together.  Death  and  the  rule 
of  man  over  the  woman  eame  as  the  consequences  of  trans- 
— ion.  The  penalty  was  paid,  the  redemption  was  wrought 
out,  and  through  the  atonement  those  two  persons  are  restored 
to  their  pristine  condition. 

In  the  resurrection,  then.  Adam  and  Eve  come  together  afl 
at  the  first  in  the  garden,  and  there  is  no  more  separation  for 
them.  They  are  rejoined,  not  as  ghostly  beings  without  the 
feelings  and  powers  of  tangible  personality,  but  as  the  man 
and  the  woman  made  one  eternally,  with  power  to  increase  and 
multiply  and  have  dominion,  with  all  eternity  before  them 
for  the  exercise  of  every  power  with  which  the  Creator 
endowed  them,  spiritual,  mental  and  physical,  standing  at  the 
head  of  the  race  perfected  by  experience  and  obedience  to 
eternal  law.  and  ready  to  act  in  the  harmony  with  celestial 
intelligences,  and  preside  over  their  own  posterity  forever. 

II  is  a  sample  marriage.  It  was  not  for  time  alone,  but 
for  eternity.  Death  intervened,  but  only  as  an  incident.  The 
bond  that  bound  them  in  matrimony  was  not  >undered.  The 
seal  set  upon  them  was  of  heavenly  Btamp.  Its  virtue 
reached  within  the  vail.  It-  force  extendi  d  into  the  world  to 
There  was  no  end  to  it.  God  had  a  hand  in  it  and 
it  was  His  *  land  -  action  that  made  it  valid  ami  everlast- 
ing. All  other  marriag  .nized  on  similar  principles 
and  under  the  same  authority  will  be  of  the  same  virtue   and 


50  "mormon"  doctrine. 

effect.  Ordinances  performed  by  those  divinely  appointed 
are  as  though  attended  to  by  Deity  in  person.  "Whoso 
receiveth  you  receiveth  me,"  saith  the  Lord.  What  they 
"bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven."  Herein  is  the 
authority  of  the  holy  Priesthood,  and  herein  is  the  sealing 
power  for  the  Saints  of  God,  by  which  they  may  enter  into 
the  holy  order  of  celestial  marriage  that  lasts  while  eternity 
endures.  The  KEirs  of  this  power  are  only  held  by  one  man 
at  a  time  on  the  earth,  being  vested  in  the  president  of  the 
whole  Church  of  God  in  the  flesh.  But  while  he  holds  the  keys, 
others  may  officiate  therein  under  his  direction  and  authority. 

Unions  formed  by  men  and  women,  of  their  own  arrange- 
ment without  any  divine  sanction  or  divine  ceremony,  are 
only  temporary  in  their  nature.  They  end  when  the  parties 
or  either  of  them  die.  God  does  not  acknowledge  that  which 
He  has  not  appointed.  Neither  the  vows  of  the  man  and 
woman,  nor  the  ceremony  performed  by  a  person  unauthor- 
ized by  the  Almighty  are  recognized  in  heaven,  but  only  per- 
tain to  earth  and  time.  The  claim  of  parents  thus  united, 
over  their  offspring,  is  but  of  the  earth,  earthy,  and  does  not 
extend  into  the  spheres  beyond.  Death  dissolves  both  these 
marital  and  parental  ties,  and  each  family  particle  becomes 
disintegrated. 

No  power  but  that  of  Deity  can  bring  them  again  together, 
and  as  God  proceeds  by  law,  and  the  law  fixed  for  these 
relations  have  not  been  complied  with,  the  separation  con- 
tinues while  endless  ages  roll.  "  In  the  resurrection  they 
neither  marry,  nor  are  given  in  marriage,"  but,  if  in  a  saved 
condition,  are  as  the  angels,  and  they  are  ministering  spirits 
or  servants  unto  those  who  obtain  the  crown  of  eternal  lives, 
"a  far  more  and  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory,"  than 
that  which  rests  upon  any  of  the  angels.  Men  and  women 
may  be  saved  in  a  separate  and  single  state,  but  they  cannot 
be  exalted  into  the  fullness  of  celestial  glory  without  union  in 
celestial  marriage,  because  that  is  a  state  of  perfection  and 
comprehends  the  gift  of  perpetual  increase,  in  which  there 
are  endless  dominion  and  the  exercise  of  all  the  powers  of 
immortal  manhood  and  womanhood  united  as  one  in  the 
everlasting  covenant. 


MAN   Till'    BEAD   OF  THE   WOMAN.  51 

[n  the  divine  economy,  as  in  nature,  the  man  uis  the  head 
of  the  woman,"  and  it  is  written  that  "lie  is  the  savior  ol  the 
body."  But  "the  man  is  not  without  the  woman"  any 
more  than  the  woman  is  without  the  man,  in  the  Lord.     Adam 

was  first  formed,  then  Eve.  In  the  resurrection  they  stand 
side  by  side  and  hold  dominion  together.  JEvery  man  who 
overcomes  all  things  and  is  thereby  entitled  to  inherit  all 
things,  receives  power  to  bring  up  his  wife  to  join  him  in  the 
ssion  and  enjoyment  thereof. 

In  the  case  of  a  man  marrying  a  wife  in  the  everlasting 
covenant  who  dies  while  he  continues  in  the  flesh  and  marries 
another  by  the  same  divine  law.  each  wife  will  come  forth  in 
her  order  and  enter  with  him  into  his  glory.  Is  there  any 
reason  why  this  should  not  be  so?  Is  not  each  of  these  wives 
entitled  to  her  position  in  eternity,  by  virtue  of  the  sealing 
power  which  made  her  part  of  the  man  ?  Why  should  one 
enter  into  the  exaltation  of  the  celestial  world,  and  the  other 
be  relegated  to  singleness  and  servitude?  They  all  become 
one  in  the  patriarchal  order  of  family  government.  And  if 
this  he  tin-  case  in  heaven,  why  should  not  similar  condition.- 
so  far  as  possible  exist  on  earth?  Is  earth  holier  than  heaven  ? 
If  a  man  receives  from  the  Lord  more  wives  than  one  under 
the  Bealing  ordinances  of  celestial  marriage,  where  is  the  moral 
wrong?  They  belong  to  no  other  man,  but  are  his  by  mutual 
consent  of  all  the  interested  parties,  and  they  live  together  in 
the  marriage  state,  one  as  much  as  the  other. 

In  this  position  there  are  occasions  for  the  exercise  of 
patience,  forbearance,  charity,  self-sacrifice  and  the  exercise 
of  all  the  virtues  to  a  far  greater  degree  than  in  any  other. 
In  this  plural  family  relation,  an  experience  can  be  gained 
that  no  other  condition  in  life  affords,  and  the  parties  who  BO 
live  ami  keep  the  law  will  be,  in  the  very  nature  of  thi 
prepared  for  a  wider  sphere  of  dominion,  and  power,  and 
dignity,  and  might  in  the  eternal  world,  than  those  who  have 
only  experienced  the  monogamic  condition.  They  will,  there- 
fore, if  they  endure  unto  the  end.  go  forward  into  the  highest 
ee  of  exaltation,  while  their  posterity  will  multiply  in  an 
ever-increasing  ratio,  until  worlds  will  he  filled  by  their  genera- 


52  "mormon"  DOiTar^E 

tions  and  they  will  ascend  to  the  majesty  and  splendor  of  the 
Gods  on  high. 

Herein  is  our  Eternal  Father  glorified  and  His  dominions 
extended.  By  the  continuation  of  the  seeds  of  the  righteous 
forever,  the  multiplication  of  His  sons  and  daughters  creates 
the  needs  for  worlds  and  systems,  to  be  brought  forth  accord- 
ing to  eternal  laws,  to  occupy  their  position  in  the  universe  as 
dwelling  places  for  spirits,  and  embodied  mortals,  and  per- 
fected souls,  in  the  various  grades  on  the  path  of  progress 
towards  the  perfection  of  the  celestial  order  ;  as  orbs  of  light 
and  splendor,  or  globes  of  trial,  punishment  or  correction, 
each  in  its  allotted  sphere  in  the  galaxy  of  suns  and  stars  and 
planets,  and  in  the  vast  and  wondrous  plans  of  the  Mighty 
Architect,  the  Eternal  Parent  of  organized  intelligencies. 

In  obedience  to  His  laws,  there  is  present  peace  and  future 
joy.  They  who  are  in  harmony  with  Him  are  in  affinity  with 
the  source  of  all  pleasure  and  power.  His  commandments 
are  found  in  the  laws  of  continuing  life,  which  regulate  as 
permanent  things  ;  and  they  who  reject  Him  and  His  counsels 
shut  the  gate  against  their  own  happiness  and  advancement. 
But,  for  them  who  receive  His  gospel  and  conform  to  all  its 
ordinances  and  teachings,  the  door  is  open  to  the  highest 
courts  in  the  heavenly  mansions,  and  while  they  are  helped 
through  the  ordeals  of  mortal  life,  they  gain  the  keys  to  all  the 
glories  of  that  existence  in  which  the  family  relation  is  per- 
fected and  perpetuated,  and  every  power  of  the  whole  being, 
refined,  intensified  and  developed,  finds  exercise,  in  its  true 
sphere,  to  the  complete  and  unalloyed  bliss  of  each  one  in  the 
endless  family  circle,  and  the  glory  of  Him  who  is  the  Patri- 
arch and  Buler  of  all. 


CHRIST  S    WORK    CONTINUED   AJTEB    Ills   DEATH. 


TWELFTH    LEAF. 


Christ's  Work  Continued  After  His  Death— The  Perfect    Science   of 
Human  Redemption     What   was  Lost  in  the  Fall— What 

ined  in  the  Restoration-  Justice  Tempered  with  M< 
Loss  Sustained  by  the  Disobedient— Doom  of  the  Sons  of  Per- 
dition—The Celestial,  Terrestrial  ami  Telestial  G  [emo- 
tion and  Glorification  of  the  Earth— Salvation  of  the  Whole 
—The  Finished  Work  of  Christ  I  uiversal  Dominion  of  tin- 
Fa  1 1 

^"PHE  mission  of  Christ  was  to  save  that  which  was  lost. 
-1  It  was  not  completed  when  He  hung  upon  the  ci 
His  dying  exclamation,  iv  It  is  finished!"  referred  to  His  Buf- 
ferings tor  sin,  the  ordeals  of  mortality,  His  labors  in  the 
flesh.  As  we  have  seen,  He  continued  His  work  of  salvation 
when  out  of  the  body,  by  preaching  to  the  dead.  After  His 
resurrection  He  met,  on  several  occasions,  with  His  disciples, 
and  instructed  them  in  the  plan  of  redemption  and  sent  them 
to  all  nations,  that  the  work  He  had  commenced  on  earth 
might  be  continued.  He  ministered  to  other  nations,  uttered 
His  voice  to  other  sheep  which  were  not  of  the  fold  in  Pales- 
tine, that  the  lost  tribes  of  Israel  and  all  who  could  not  be 
reached  by  His  Jewish  Apostles  might  hear  the  glad  tidings 
of  salvation.  This,  however,  not  fully  revealed  in  the  Bible, 
is  made  clear  in  the  Book  of  Mormon.  After  His  -  osion, 
to  fulfill  His  own  promise,  He  went  to  prepare  a  place  for 
His  faithful  disciples,  that  when  they  left  the  earth  they  might 
be  able  to  abide  with  Him. 

But  all  this  was  only  a  small  part  of  the  perfect  scheme  of 
redemption.  That  which  was  lost  in  Adam  is  to  be  regained 
in  Christ.  Through  the  commission  of  crime,  death  tame 
into  the  world.  Satan  gained  dominion.  The  earth  trembled 
under  the  curse.  Eden  bloomed  no  more  upon  its  face.  The 
tree  of  life  was  removed.  Thorns  and  briers  and  doj 
weeds  came  up   in   the  place  of  the  flowers  and  fruits  of  para- 


54  "mormon"  doctrine. 

dise.  Deity  was  hidden  from  the  sight  of  man.  Sorrow  and 
pain  and  toil  and  travail  became  the  heritage  of  mortals. 
Enmity  arose  between  man  and  beast.  Venom  entered  the 
serpent's  fangs,  and  rage  the  hearts  of  brute  and  fowl  and 
aqueous  creature.  Strife  dwelt  in  the  very  elements  and 
death  brooded  over  the  face  of  the  smitten  globe. 

What,  then,  was  lost?  The  immortality  of  man;  the 
blessed  tree  of  life  ;  communion  with  Jehovah  ;  the  compan- 
ionship of  angels;  the  purity  of  paradise ;  man's  dominion 
over  inferior  creatures;  freedom  from  satanic  influence; 
exemption  from  toil  and  pain  ;  earth's  affinity  with  perfected 
realms  on  high. 

Until  all  this  has  been  restored,  Christ's  work  must'  con- 
tinue. The  earth  must  be  cleansed  from  its  corruptions. 
The  elements  must  melt  with  fervent  heat,  and  be  purified 
from  evil.  Satan  and  his  hosts  must  be  banished  and  bound. 
Eden  must  blossom  again  as  at  first.  The  lion  and  the  lamb 
must  lie  down  together.  The  fig  tree  and  the  myrtle  must 
flourish  where  the  rank  weeds  grow.  The  whole  race  of  Adam 
must  be  raised  from  the  dead.  The  vail  between  earth  and 
heaven  must  be  removed.  The  knowledge  and  glory  of  God 
must  cover  the  earth  as  the  waters  cover  the  deep,  and  the 
spirit  of  life  and  peace  and  light  and  joy  must  be  poured  out 
upon  all  flesh,  until  the  whole  creation  vibrates  with  pleasure 
and  responds  with  praise. 

The  ushering  in  of  the  great  millennial  day,  a  glimpse  of 
which  has  been  seen  by  all  the  holy  prophets  since  the  world 
began,  with  the  sweet  rest  of  earth  and  its  inhabitants,  is  not, 
however,  the  completion  of  Christ's  glorious  work.  His 
kingdom  must  not  only  be  established  from  pole  to  pole  and 
from  shore  to  shore,  but  His  saving  power  must  penetrate  to 
every  lost  soul  of  our  race  in  the  regions  of  the  damned. 

A  just'judgment  will  be  meted  out  to  all.  They  who  reject 
the  gospel  must  suffer  the  penalty.  Those  who  are  found 
worthy  of  many  stripes  must  receive  their  portion.  The 
wicked  will  be  turned  into  hell,  with  all  the  nations  that  for- 
get God.  Each  condemned  person  will  pay  the  uttermost 
farthing  for  his  sins.  Justice,  tempered,  not  warped  or 
thwarted,  by  mercy,  will  mete  out  to  all  their  right  deserts, 


ETERNAL    I'l  NI8HMENT. 

"every  man  according  to  Bis  works."  The  punishment  is 
always  existent,  therefore  it  is  eternal  punishment.  But  each 
one  who  suffers,  receives  only  his  just  portion  thereof.  Shall 
the  murderer  and  the  Sabbath-breaker,  the  adulterer  and  the 
thief,  the  drunkard  and  the  profane,  all  merit  the  same  doom? 
Would  human  courts  proclaim  Buch  judgment  ?  Shall  man 
have  more  equity  than  »  tod  ?  When  Btern  justice  has  claimed 
its  own  and  filled  its  purpose,  shall  there  be  no  place  for  sweet 
me  rev  '.; 

While  there  is  one  soul  of  this  race,  willing  and  able  to 
accept  and  obey  the  laws  of  redemption,  no  matter  where  or 
in  what  condition  it  may  be  found,  Christ's  work  will  be 
incomplete  until  that  being  is  brought  up  from  death  and 
hell,  and  placed  in  a  position  of  progress,  upward  and  onward, 
in  such  glory  as  is  possible  for  its  enjoyment  and  the  service  of 
the  great  God. 

The  punishment  inflicted  will  be  adequate  to  the  wroi 
performed.  In  one  sense  the  sinner  will  always  sutler  its 
effects.  When  the  debt  is  paid  and  justice  is  satisfied  ;  when 
obedience  is  learned  through  the  lessons  of  sad  experience; 
when  the  grateful  and  subdued  soul  cones  forth  from  the 
everlasting  punishment,  thoroughly  willing  to  comply  with 
the  laws  once  rejected  ;  there  will  be  an  abiding  Bense  of 
The  fullness  of  celestial  glory  in  the  presence  and  society  of 
God  and  the  Lamb  are  beyond  the  reach  of  that  saved  but 
not  perfected  soul,  forever.  The  power  of  increase,  wherein 
is  dominion  and  exaltation,  and  crowns  of  immeasurable  glory. 
is  not  for  the  class  of  beings  who  have  been  thrust  down  to 
hell  and  endured  the  wrath  of  God  for  the  period  allotted  by 
eternal  judgment. 

But  Jesus,  the  anointed,  with  His  army  of  saviors  bearing 
the  Priesthood  after  the  order  of  Melchisedec,  will  seek  and 
save  that  which  is  lost  until  everything  Balvable  is  redeemed. 
Only  those  beings  who  have  learned  the  law.  received  of  the 
light  of  truth,  tasted  the  sweets  of  the  divine  spirit,  basked 
in  the  sunbeam.-  of  the  heavenly  glory,  mad.-  covenant  to 
serve  the  King  of  kings  and  received  power  to  advana 
the  pinnacle  of  exaltation,  and  then  have  turned  away  from 
the    right,    chosen    evil    rather    than    good,    driven    away    the 


56  "mormon"  doctrine. 

power  and  promptings  of  the  Spirit  of  light  and  truth, 
sought  to  become  a  law  unto  themselves,  imbrued  their  hands 
in  the  blood  of  innocence  or,  drinking  in  of  the  influence  of 
that  evil  one,  consented  to  and  endorsed  the  slaying  of  the 
world's  Kedeemer,  thus  sinning  against  the  Holy  G-host  and 
becoming  servants  of  Satan  and  sons  of  perdition,  will  be  in 
their  nature  and  status  unredeemable,  and  therefore  will 
remain  "filthy  still"  and  thus  be  unfit  for  a  kingdom  of  any 
degree  of  glory.  Those  will  go  away  with  the  devil  and  his 
angels  into  the  outer  darkness,  beyond  the  spheres  where 
flows  the  river  of  salvation  and  where  blooms  the  tree  of  life. 
For  them  alone  of  Adam's  race  there  is  no  repentance,  for 
them  alone  is  the  second  death,  for  them  alone  is  the  black- 
ness of  darkness  forever. 

When  the  work  of  Christ  and  His  associate  kings  and 
priests  unto  God  is  finished,  the  saints  of  all  the  ages  will  be 
crowned  with  glory  and  receive  their  reward.  They  will  be 
made  rulers  over  many  things.  In  the  order  of  eternity,  they 
will  stand  in  the  heavenly  family  organization,  and  all  things 
will  be  theirs.  Of  their  increase  there  will  be  no  end.  They 
will  hold  the  key  to  all  heights  and  depths.  They  will  have 
power  over  all  the  elements,  spiritual  and  corporeal.  The  incor- 
ruptible and  fadeless  riches  will  be  theirs.  They  will  mingle 
with  the  highest.  They  will  gaze  upon  the  face  of  the  Eternal 
God  and  dwell  in  the  presence  of  the  sinless  Son.  Pain  and 
sorrow,  and  trial  and  death  will  henceforth  be  only  known  in 
memory,  to  form  the  contrast  needful  to  make  their  joy  com- 
plete. Eternity  with  its  boundless  opportunities  and  unutter- 
able bliss  and  intelligence  and  majesty  will  be  before  them  with- 
out a  barrier  in  the  way,  secure  for  them  as  to  the  Almighty 
Father  himself.     This  is  the  celestial  glory. 

Those  who  were  not  numbered  with  the  Saints  of  God  in 
the  flesh,  but  who  received  the  gospel  in  the  spirit ;  the  good 
and  honorable  who  were  led  astray  by  the  designing  ;  the  class 
not  fitted  for  the  crowning  glory  of  the  celestial  world  nor 
worthy  of  the  doom  of  the  wicked,  will  also  receive  their  por- 
tion. They  will  not  attain  to  the  gifts  of  increase  and  domin- 
ion and  the  fullness  of  the  highest,  but  will  enter  into  their 
rest,  which  shall  be  glorious.     And  though  they  reach  not  to 


DIFFERENT   DEQR]  I  -   01    GLORY. 

the  Father's  fullness,  they  will  receive  the  visits  of  the 
and  of  His  associates  in  the  celestial  world,  and  enjoy  rich 
blessings  anspeakable  in  their  greatness  and  perpetuity.    They 
inherit  the  terrestrial  glory. 

Those  who  were  cast  down  to  the  depths  for  their  sins,  who 
ted  the  gospel  of  Jesus,  who  persecuted  the  saints,  who 
reveled  in  iniquity,  who  committed  all  manner  of  ti 
ions  except  the  unpardonable  crime,  will  also  come  forth  in 
the  Lord's  time,  through  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  and  the 
ministry  o\'  Hi-  disciples  and  their  own  repentance  and  willing 
acceptance  of  divine  law,  and  enter  into  the  various  degrees 
of  glory  and  power  and  progress  and  light,  according  to  their 
different  capacities  and  adaptabilities.  They  cannot  go  up 
into  the  society  of  the  Father  nor  receive  of  the  presence  of 
the  Son,  but  will  have  ministrations  of  m<  from   the 

terrestrial  world,  and  have  joy  beyond  all  expectation  and 
the  conception  of  uninspired  mortal  minds.  They  will  all 
bow  the  knee  to  Christ  and  serve  God  the  Father,  and  have 
an  eternity  of  usefulness  and  happiness  in  harmony  with  the 
higher  powers.     They  receive  the  telestial  idory. 

Thus  the  inhabitants  of  earth,  with  the  few  exceptions  that 
are  beyond  the  power  of  redemption,  will  eventually  be  saved. 
And  the  globe  on  which  they  passed  their  probation,  having 
kept  the  law  of  its  being,  will  come  into  remembrance  before 
its  Maker.  It  will  die  like  its  products.  But  it  will  be 
quickened  again  and  resurrected  in  the  celestial  glory.  Tt 
has  been  bore  of  the  water,  it  will  also  be  born  of  the  Spirit. 
Purified  by  fire  from  all  the  corruptions  that  once  defiled  it. 
developed  into  its  perfections  as  one  of  the  family  of  worlds 
fitted  for  the  Creator's  presence,  all  its  latent  light  awakened 
into  scintillating  action,  it  will  move  up  into  its  place  among 
the  orl»  governed  by  celestial  time,  and  shining  "like  a 
of  glass  mingled  with  fire,"  every  tint  and  color  of  the 
heavenly  bow  radiating  from  its  Burface,  the  ransomed  of  the 
Lord  will   dwell  upon   it  :  the   highest  >f  the  ancient 

orbs  will  visit  it;  the  garden  of  God  will  again  adorn  it;  the 
heavt-nly  government  will  prevail  in  every  part  ;  Jesus  will 
reign  as  its  Kin-;  the  river  of  life  will  flow  out  from  the 
regal  throne;  the  tree  of  life,  whi  were  for  the  heal- 


58 


"mormon"   doctrine. 


ing  of  the  nations,  will  flourish  upon  the  banks  of  the  heavenly 
stream,  and  its  golden  fruit  will  be  free  for  the  white-robed 
throng,  that  they  may  eat  and  live  forever.  This  perfected 
earth  and  its  saved  inhabitants  will  then  be  presented  to  the 
Eternal  Father  as  the  finished  work  of  Christ,  and  all  thiDgs 
will  be  subject  unto  the  Great  Patriarch,  Architect,  Creator, 
Ruler,  the  Almighty,  to  whom  be  obedience  and  reverence 
and  praise  in  all  the  countless  worlds  that  shine  as  jewels  in 
His  universal  crown ! 


TIIK    LATTER  MAY    KINGDOM. 


THK    LATTER-DAY    KIXCiDOM 


How  shall  I  sing  thy  beauty,  pow'r  and  light, 

< )  glorious  kingdom  of  the  latter  da; 
I  see  thy  loveliness,  \  feel  thy  might, 

But  find  no  utterance  to  speak  thy  praise  I 

I  Beaich  in  vain  the  records  of  the  past, 

Which  paint  dead  kingdoms  in  their  short-lived  pride, 
They  cannot  picture  thee,  whose  pow'r  shall  last 

While  heav'n  and  truth  and  Deity  abide. 

And  shall  the  little  "  powers  that  be"  to-day, 
Be  likened  for  a  moment  to  thy  majesty*/ 

As  well  declare  pale  vesta's  twinkling  ray 
T'n  folds  the  splendor  of  eternity. 

In  hist'ry  only  Egypt's  greatness  lives  — 
Lost  are  its  treasures,  all  its  wisdom  hid, 

it  the  scraps  the  crumbling  mummy  gr 
The  sculptured  sphynx  and  tow' ring  pyramid. 

Assyria  !  Thy  sceptre  lies  in  dust. 

Thy  bow  is  broken  and  thy  pomp  has  tied. 
Ptrished  thy  fruits  of  conquest,  blood  and  lost, 

With  all  the  warriors  that  Tiglath  led! 

Where  are  the  palaces  of  Babylon, 
The  " hanging  gardens"  and  the  golden  tow're? 

With  the  Chaldeans'  Starlight  wisdom  gone, 
Walls,  gates  and  glory,    images  and  flow' ITS ! 


60  "mormon"    doctrine. 

And  couldst  not  thou,  0  Greece,  avert  thy  fate, 
With  oracles  and  wealth  and  victory  ? 

Couldst  not  thy  world-wide  reign  perpetuate, 
With  all  thy  gods  and  deep  philosophy  ? 

The  soul  that  moved  thee  in  thy  conquering  march, 
That  spoke  in  poesy  and  art  and  grace, 

Is  disembodied  ;  and  the  mouldering  arch 
And  chiseled  fragment  mark  thy  burial  place. 

And  thou,  0  Rome  !  proud  mistress  of  the  world  ! 

Thine  armored  legions  spread  no  terror  now. 
They  bring  no  blood-bought  spoils  of  gems  impearled, 

To  deck  thy  bosom  and  thy  haughty  brow. 

Thy  Coliseum's  vast  and  vacant  walls, 
Rot  as  an  emblem  of  thy  great  decay, 

And  on  the  ear  its  mournful  echo  falls, 
A  dismal  knell  of  thy  departed  sway  ! 

0  !  all  ye  living  governments  and  states  ! 

Gaze  on  the  relics  of  far  mightier  powers  ! 
The  hand  that  shattered  them,  uplifted  waits 

The  bell  that  ends  your  few  remaining  hours  ! 

In  the  high  chambers  of  the  West,  I  see 
An  infant  kingdom  struggling  to  the  birth. 

And  the  prophetic  spirit  says  to  me, 

11  In  manhood  this  shall  govern  all  the  earth." 

0  Zion  !  built  by  Saints  of  latter  days. 

Bring  forth  the  promised  kingdom  to  the  world  ! 
Upon  the  mountain  tops  "the  ensign"  raise, 

And  spread  its  shining  folds  to  all  the  world  ! 

Gathered  from  ev'ry  clime  and  tongue  and  race, 
Under  the  banner,  righteous  men  shall  stand, 

And  the  all-conquering  Christ  shall  show  His  face, 
And  give  dominion  to  that  faithful  band. 


TH1   LATTER  DAT    KINGDOM.  61 

Armored  in  truth  and  God's  authority, 

I > ; 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -  38  and  terrible,  yet  lull  of  1<> 
The  King  shall  lead  them  unto  victory. 

And  bring  a  van-guard  from  the  ranks 

No  weapon  formed  against  them  shall  prevail, 
\  i  cunning  plan  shall  prove  their  overthrow!; 

The  princelof  all  earth's  kingdoms  they  assail, 
And  drive  his  forces  to  the  shades  below. 

The  spirit  that  gives  wisdom  to  the  wu 

From  Council,  Congn  88,  Parliament,  shall  flee — 
Shall  rest  on  those  whom  all  mankind  despif 
And  leave  the  world  to  human  policy. 

Left,  in  a  day  of  storms,  each  bark  of  state, 
Rotten  and  rudderless,  whirled  madly  on 

Against  each  other  on  the  sea  of  late. 

With  awful  crash  to  depths  of  death*  go  down. 

But  see  the  >hip  no  storm  can  overwhelm. 

Saving  the  remnant.-  of  the  wrecks  below  ! 
"'The  Priesthood"  ">  written  on  her  shining  helm, 
I  id's  Kingdom"  i.>  inscribed  upon  her  how. 

God's  Kingdom  !  seen  in  vision  by  the  Beers  ! 

God's  Kingdom  !  Clothed  injustice  truth  and  light! 
Theme  of  the  prophet  and  the  hard  appears, 

To  save  the  nations  from  chaotic  night. 

A  perfect  government  for  all  the  earth. 

Not  a  republic  nor  a  monarchy, 
And  yet  from  both  all  principle-  of  worth 

Are  blended  in  this  great  Theocracy. 

Wielding  almighty  power  in  ev'ry  land. 

The  willing  people  bend  to  its  supreme 
And  mutual  tnt'rest,  like  a  golden  band. 

Binds  in  odc  social  compact  men  of  all  decrees. 


62  "mormon"   doctrine. 

Appointed  by  the  great  Jehovah's  voice, 

By  intellect  and  virtue  qualified, 
And  a  free  people's  universal  choice, 

The  leading  spirits  govern  and  preside. 

No  longer  bound  beneath  the  cruel  weight 
Of  idle  vampires,  draining  their  life's  blood, 

The  joyful  nations  yield  the  pow'r  of  state, 
To  legislators  for  their  country's  good. 

Earth's  treasures,  hiding  'neath  the  deep  sea  waves, 
Bound  in  the  rock,  or  shining  on  the  strand, 

Or  glittering  in  subterraneous  caves, 

Come  sparkling  forth  at  industry's  command. 

New  sciences  and  arts  diffuse  new  light, 
Knowledge  of  future  and  of  past  events, 

Wisdom  to  comprehend  the  secret  might, 
And  subtle  forces  of  the  elements. 

In  wondrous  implements,  mechanic  skill 
Grives  unto  labor  swift  and  easy  wings, 

Making  each  sterile  spot  with  life  to  thrill, 
While  water  from  the  thirsty  desert  springs. 

Thought,  freed  from  human  trammels,  brings  to  light 

Its  glorious  conceptions  without  fear, 
And  mouldy  Precedent,  struck  dead  with  fright, 

Reposes  on  an  unregretted  bier. 

The  laws  which  life  and  health  perpetuate, 
By  inspiration's  sacred  voice  are  taught, 

And  every  passion  made  subordinate, 

To  principles  with  lasting  pleasure  fraught. 

Jesus,  the  Sinless,  fills  the  regal  throne, 
To  Him  all  other  rulers  bend  the  knee  ; 

He  reigns  not  by  His  right  and  might  alone, 
But  loving  homage  swells  His  majesty. 


TBE   LATTER-DAT    KINGDOM. 

Earth  linked  into  the  chain  of  worlds  on  high, 
Among  the  ransomed  planets  takes  its  place, 

And  finds  itself  in  blest  affinity 
With  orbs  that  govern  time  through  bound!' 

Such  is  the  kingdom  now  on  earth  begun, 
A  branch  of  the  great  Governmental  Tree, 

Whose  mots  arc  grounded  in  the  central  sun. 
Whose  boughs  bear  fruit  through  all  eternity. 

Sappy  are  they  who  labor  in  its  cause, 
Happy  are  they  who  suffer  for  its  sake  ; 

For  all  who  are  obedient  to  its  laws, 

( >t'  all  its  joys  and  honors  shall  partake. 


64  "mormon"   doctrine. 


APPENDIX. 


SCRIPTURE  REFERENCES    IN     PROOF    OF    T:iE  DOCTRINES   SET 
FORTH   IN  THE  BODY   OF  THIS   WORK. 


FIRST  LEAF. 

But  one  God  to  worship — I.  Cor.  viii,  6. 

Man's  ways  not  accepted  of  God — Matt,  xv,  9. 

Only  one  correct  way — John  x,  1. 

Faith  the  first  principle — Heb.  xi,  6. 

Faith  a  principle  of  power — Heb.  x. 

How  faith  conies — Rom.  x,  14,  17. 

Human  learning  inadequate — I.  Cor.  ii,  5-14. 

God  the  Father  of  spirits — Heb.  xii,  9  ;  Eccles.  xii,  7  ;  John 

xx,  17. 
Man  in  God's  image — Gen.  i,  26  ;  I.  Cor.  xi,  7. 


SECOND  LEAF. 

Death  by  Adam,  life  by  Christ — Rom.  v,  12-21. 

All,  good  and  bad,  to  be  raised  from  the  dead — I.  Cor.  xv,  22  ; 

John  v,  28,  29  ;  Daniel  xii,  2. 
Christ  died  for  original  sin — John  i,  29  ;    Rom.  v,  18,  19;  I. 

Cor.  xv.  21,  22. 
Christ  died  for  our  actual  sins — Rom.  iv,  25  :  v,  8  ;   viii,  32 ; 

I.  Cor.  xv.  3  ;    Galatians  i,  4  ;     Ephesians,  i,  7  :  Collos- 

sians,  i,  14  ;   Heb.  ii,  9  ;   ix,  28  ;  I.  Peter  ii,  24  ;  iii,  18  ; 

I.  John  ii,  2. 
Faith,  repentance  and  baptism  fundamental  principles — Heb. 

vi,  1,  2  ;  Matthew  xxviii,  19,  20  ; 
True  repentance — II.  Cor.  vii,  10,  11. 


APPENDIX 

Baptism  is  immersion— Rom.  vi.  1 ;  Acta  viii.     -  John 

iii.  5,  23  :  Matt  iii.  16. 
Baptism  is  for  the  remission  of  sins — Acts  ii,  38;  Mark  i.  \. 
But  one  baptism — Ephesians  ; 

But  one  door  into  the  fold— John  x.  1.  l\ 


THIRD  LEAP. 

Gift   of  the  Ih'ly  Ghost   by  laying   on  of  hands — Acts  viii. 

14-19;  srix,  6;  II.  Timothy  i.  6:  Dent  xxxiv.  9. 
Office  of  the  Boly  Ghost — John  xiv.  26  ;  xvi.  13. 
Fruitsof  the  Spirit— Gal  v,  22,  - 
Gifts  of  the  Spirit — I.  Cor.  xii.  4-17  ;  xiv,  1-5. 
Birth  of  the  Spirit  essential — John  iii. 


FOURTH   LEAF. 

No  man  to  take  the  Priesthood  upon  himself—  Heb.  v,  1-4. 

What  is  sealed  on   earth  by  authority  is  sealed  in  heaven- 
Matt,  xviii.  is  ;  xvi.  L9. 

The    Melchisedek   Priesthood    eternal — Heb.  vii,  1-4,  16,  17. 

The  Aaronic  or  JLevitical  Priesthood  another  order,  Heb.  vii, 
11,21. 
did  Dot  assume  the  Priesthood — Heb.  v,  5. 

God  called  Jesns  to  the-  Priesthood— Heb.  v,  10;  Psalms  ex,  4. 

Moses    and   Elias    administered  to  Jesus — Matt   xvii,    1-5; 
Mark  ix,  2-7  ;  Luke  be,  30- 

is  ordained  apostles  to    the   same  authority — John   xx. 
21-23  ;  xvii.  -2-2  ;  xv,   16. 

The  ordained  others — Acta  i.  23-26  :  vi.  5,  6  :  xiii, 

]-::  ;   xiv.  23  :  xv,  22  :    1.  Timothy  iv,  11  :  Titus  i.  5. 


FIFTH  LEAF. 

Christ  the  head  of  the  Church— Ephesianfl  v.  23  :  i.  22. 

Apostleship  firet   authority  iii    the  Church  —  I.   Cor.    xii.  28 
Ephesians  ii.  i 

♦3 


66 


MORMON      DOCTRINE. 


Peter,  James  and  John  chief  Apostles — Galatians  ii,  9. 

Seventies  called  and  sent  forth— x,  I. 

Officers  of  the   Church— I.   Cor.   xii,   28:    Eph.   iv,  11;    I. 

Timothy  iii,  1-13  ;  v,  1. 
Apostles  and  Prophets  to  continue — Eph.  iv,  13. 
Progress  of  the  Church  towards  perfection— Eph.  iv,  12-16  : 

v,  27. 
Church  casts  out  evil   doers — II.  Thess.  iii,  6-14 ;  Rom.  xvi, 

17  ;  I.  Cor.  v,   4-11  ;    II.  Cor.  vi,  14-17  ;    Matt,  xviii,  17. 
Members  of  the  Church  all  one  ;  no  nationality — I,  Cor.  xii,  13; 

Galatians  iii,  28  ;  Rom.  x,  12  ;  Ephesians  ii,  19-22. 
Church  of  the  present  connected  with  the  past — Heb.   xii, 

22,  23. 


SIXTH  LEAF. 

God  not  the  author  of  confusion — I.  Cor.  xiii,  33. 
Contention  among  the  early  Saints — I.  Cor.  i,  11. 
Great  apostasy  foretold— II.  Thess.  ii,  2,  3  ;  I.  Tim.  iv,  1  ;  II. 

Tim.  iii,  1-7  ;  II.  Peter  ii,  1-3  ;  Revelations  xiv,  8. 
The  iniquity  commenced  in  the  first  century — II.  Thess.  ii,  7  ; 

Rev.  ii,  3. 
Christ's  pure  Church  symbolized — Rev.  xii,  1-5. 
The  apostate  church  contrasted — Rev.  xvii,  1-6. 
Darkness  covered  the  earth — Isaiah  lx,  2. 
Spirit  of  deep  sleep  poured  out — Isaiah  xxix,  9,  10. 
The    world  worshiping    God  only  with  their  mouth — Isaiah 

xxix,  13. 


SEVENTH  LEAF. 

Restoration  of  the  gospel  by  an  angel — Rev.  xiv,  6,  7. 

Knowledge  to  follow  obedience — John  vii,  17. 

John  the  Baptist  could  not  confer  the  Holy  Ghost — Matt,  iii, 

1 1  ;  Acts  xix,  2-4. 
Powers  of  the  Aaronic  Priesthood — Doctrine  and  Covenants 

Section  cvii,  20. 


APPENDIX, 


Powers  of  the  Melchisedek  Priesthood— Doo.  and  ( \»v.  Sec. 

ovii,  Is.  19  ;  1  Ifl».  v,  ix. 
Signs  to  follow  believers — Mark  xvi,  17.  L8;  I.  Cor.  xii,  7-11. 
Dispensation  of  the  Fullness  of  times— Eph.  i,  9,  10. 


EIGHTH  LEAF. 

No  salvation  but  by  Jesus  Christ — Acts,  iv,  12. 

Birth  of  water  and  of  spirit  essential — John  iii,  5, 

All  to  be  judged  by  the  gospel— Rom.  ii,  16. 

Gospel  preached  to  the  dead — I.  Peter  h 

Christ  preached  to  spirits  in  prison— I.  Peter  iii.   18-20. 

Preaching  to  captives  foretold— Isaiah  lxi,  I  :  xlii,  6,  7. 

Jesus  led  captivity  captive — Eph.  i 

Jesus  did  not  go  to  heaven  when  He  died — John  xx,  17; 

Lukexxiii.  43. 
Living  and  dead  to  hear  the  gospel — Rom.  x,  14  ;  Isaiah  xxiv, 

21,  2± 


NINTH    LEAF. 

Baptism  for  the  dead — I.  Cor.  xv,  29. 

The  fathers  without  u<  not  perfect — Heb.  xi,  39,  40. 

Saviors  on  Mount  Zion — Obadiah  i.  21. 

Order  of  baptism  for  the  dead — Doc.  and  Cov.  Sections  exxvii, 

cxviii. 
Elijah  the  Prophet  to  come — Malachi  iv.  5. 
Christ  the  proxy  of  blood  for  all— Heb-  ix,  12,  14.  22  ;  x,  10 ; 

I.  Tim.  ii.  6. 
Knowledge  about  the  dead  to  come  from  God — Isaiah  viii, 

19,  2 


TENTB    LEAF. 

Bin  the  transgression  of  law — I.  John  iii,  14. 

Death  the  wages  of  Bin— Rom.  \i.  23. 

All  men  to  die— Heb.  ix.  27  :  Eoclea  iii.  20. 


68  "mormon"   doctrine. 

Death  inherited  from  Adam — Eom.  v,  12. 

Life  after  death — LI.  Cor.  vi;  Eccles.  xii,  7. 

Resurrection  of  the  body — Job  xix,  25-27  ;   Isaiah  xxvi,  19  ; 

Luke  xxiv,  36-42  ;  I.  Cor.  xv,  35-54  ;  Phil,  iii,  20,  21. 
First  resurrection — Rev.  xx,  4-6. 
Three  glories— I.  Cor.  xv,  15. 
A  body  necessary  for  full  happiness — Ezekiel  xxxvii,  2  ;  Doc. 

and  Cov.  Sec.  xciii,  23,  24. 
The  Ancient  of  Days — Daniel  vii,  9-14. 


ELEVENTH  LEAF. 

Woman  made  for  man — I.  Cor.  xi,  9. 

Marriage  ordained  of  God — Gen.  ii,  22-24  ;  i,  28. 

Marriage  honorable— Heb.  xiii,  4. 

Man  the  head  of  woman — Eph.  v,  23  ;  I.  Cor.  xi,  3. 

Man  not  without  the  woman  in  the  Lord— I.  Cor.  xi,  11. 

Unmarried  persons  as  the  angels — Matt,  xxii,  30. 

Saints  to  judge  angels — I.  Cor.  vi,  3. 

Angels  to  be  ministering  Spirits — Heb.  i,  14. 

God  gave  David  wives — II.  Samuel  xii,  7. 

Gideon  and  his  wives — Judges  viii,  30. 

Jacob's  four  wives — Gen.  xxx,  1-26. 

Abraham  and  his  wives — Gen.   xviii,  16-19  ;    xvi,  1-3  ;  xxv, 

1-6. 
Abraham  and  Jacob  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven — Matt,  viii, 

11,  12  ;  Luke  xiii,  28. 
Celestial  marriage — Doc.  and  Cov.  Sec.  cxxxii. 


TWELFTH    LEAF. 

Christ  came  to  save  that  which  was  lost — Matt,  xviii,  11. 
Christ  ministered  to  His  disciples  after  His  resurrection — Acts 

i,  3-8  ;  I.  Cor.  xv,  5-8. 
Other  sheep  besides  the  fold  at  Jerusalem — John  x,  16. 
Christ  prepared  a  place  for  His  disciples — John  xiv,  2,  3. 
Earth  to  be  cleansed  from  corruption — Isaiah  xxiv,  1-6  ;  Mal- 

achi  iv,  1-3  ;  II.  Peter  iii,  10-12. 


APPENDIX.  69 

Satan  to  be  bound— Rev.  xx,  1-3. 

Restoration — Isaiah  xi.  6-9  :  lxv.   17-25. 

All  to  be  judged  according  to  their  works— Rev,  \x.  12-15; 

Matt.  xvi.  27. 
Some  beaten  with  few,   some  with  many  stripes — Luke  xii, 

47,  48. 
Pay  the  uttermost  farthing— Matt  v,  26. 
The  unpardonable  sin — Mark  iii,  28,  29  ;  I.  John  v,  16. 
The  second  death — Rev.  xxi.  8;  xix,  20, 
Remain  filthy  still — Rev.  xxii,  11. 
The  future  of  mankind — Doc  and  Cov.  Section  lxxvi. 
Every  knee  shall  bow — Philippians  ii,  10. 
Earth  to  be  made  new — II.  Peter  iii,  13  ;  Rev.  xxi.  1. 
Sea  of  glass  mingled  with  fire — Rev.  xv.  2. 
The  righteous  to  inherit  all  things— Rev.  xxi,  7. 
The  river  of  life — Rev.  xxii,  1  ;  Ezekiel  xlvii,  1. 
Leaves  of  the  the  tree  of  life— Rev.  xxii,  2. 
All  things  become  subject  to  God — I.  Cor.  xv.  24-28. 


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